10 U.S.C. § 1554b — Confidential review of characterization

Page 1446 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1554b the Physical Disability Board of Review shall notify the covered individual, or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of the covered individual, of the proposed review and obtain the consent of the covered individual or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal rep- resentative of the covered individual before pro- ceeding with the review. (4) With respect to any review by the Physical Disability Board of Review of the findings and decisions of the Physical Evaluation Board with respect to a covered individual, whether initi- ated at the request of the covered individual or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal rep- resentative of the covered individual or initiated by the Physical Disability Board of Review, the Physical Disability Board of Review shall notify the covered individual or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of the cov- ered individual that, as a result of the request or consent, the covered individual or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of the covered individual may not seek relief from the Board for Correction of Military Records op- erated by the Secretary concerned. (d) AUTHORIZED RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Phys- ical Disability Board of Review may, as a result of its findings under a review under subsection (c), recommend to the Secretary concerned the following (as applicable) with respect to a cov- ered individual: (1) No recharacterization of the separation of such individual or modification of the dis- ability rating previously assigned such indi- vidual. (2) The recharacterization of the separation of such individual to retirement for disability. (3) The modification of the disability rating previously assigned such individual by the Physical Evaluation Board concerned, which modified disability rating may not be a reduc- tion of the disability rating previously as- signed such individual by that Physical Eval- uation Board. (4) The issuance of a new disability rating for such individual. (e) CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS.—(1) The Secretary concerned may correct the military records of a covered individual in accordance with a recommendation made by the Physical Disability Board of Review under subsection (d). Any such correction may be made effective as of the effective date of the action taken on the re- port of the Physical Evaluation Board to which such recommendation relates. (2) In the case of a member previously sepa- rated pursuant to the findings and decision of a Physical Evaluation Board together with a lump-sum or other payment of back pay and al- lowances at separation, the amount of pay or other monetary benefits to which such member would be entitled based on the member’s mili- tary record as corrected shall be reduced to take into account receipt of such lump-sum or other payment in such manner as the Secretary of De- fense considers appropriate. (3) If the Physical Disability Board of Review makes a recommendation not to correct the military records of a covered individual, the ac- tion taken on the report of the Physical Evalua- tion Board to which such recommendation re- lates shall be treated as final as of the date of such action. (f) Regulations.—(1) This section shall be car- ried out in accordance with regulations pre- scribed by the Secretary of Defense. (2) The regulations under paragraph (1) shall specify reasonable deadlines for the performance of reviews required by this section. (3) The regulations under paragraph (1) shall specify the effect of a determination or pending determination of a Physical Evaluation Board on considerations by boards for correction of military records under section 1552 of this title. (g) SUNSET.—(1) On or after the date of the en- actment of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, the Secretary of Defense may sunset the Physical Disability Board of Review under this section. (2) If the Secretary sunsets the Physical Dis- ability Board of Review under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall transfer any remaining requests for review pending at that time, and shall assign any new requests for review under this section, to a board for the correction of military records operated by the Secretary concerned under sec- tion 1552 of this title. (3) Subsection (c)(4) shall not apply with re- spect to any review conducted by a board for the correction of military records under paragraph (2). (Added Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title XVI, § 1643(a)(1), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 465; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title V, § 522, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3597; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title X, § 1081(a)(20), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1920.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of the enactment of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, referred to in subsec. (g)(1), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–283, which was approved Jan. 1, 2021. AMENDMENTS 2021—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 116–283 added subsec. (g). Subsec. (g)(2). Pub. L. 117–81 struck out second period at end. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries IMPLEMENTATION Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title XVI, § 1643(b), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 467, provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of De- fense shall establish the board of review required by section 1554a of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), and prescribe the regulations re- quired by such section, not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 28, 2008].’’ § 1554b. Confidential review of characterization of terms of discharge of members of the armed forces who are victims of sex-related offenses (a) CONFIDENTIAL REVIEW PROCESS THROUGH BOARDS FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS.— The Secretaries of the military departments shall each establish a confidential process, uti- lizing boards of the military department con- cerned established in accordance with this chap- Page 1447 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 1556 ter, by which an individual who was the victim of a sex-related offense, or alleges that the indi- vidual was the victim of a sex-related offense, during service in the armed forces may chal- lenge the terms or characterization of the dis- charge or separation of the individual from the armed forces on the grounds that the terms or characterization were adversely affected by the individual being the victim of a sex-related of- fense. (b) CONSIDERATION OF INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES IN CONNECTION WITH OFFENSES.—In deciding whether to modify the terms or characterization of the discharge or separation from the armed forces of an individual described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the military department concerned shall instruct boards of the military department concerned established in accordance with this chapter— (1) to give due consideration to the psycho- logical and physical aspects of the individual’s experience in connection with the sex-related offense; and (2) to determine what bearing such experi- ence may have had on the circumstances sur- rounding the individual’s discharge or separa- tion from the armed forces. (c) PRESERVATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY.—Docu- ments considered and decisions rendered pursu- ant to the process required by subsection (a) shall not be made available to the public, except with the consent of the individual concerned. (d) SEX-RELATED OFFENSE DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘sex-related offense’’ means any of the following: (1) Rape or sexual assault under subsection (a) or (b) of section 920 of this title (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice). (2) Forcible sodomy under section 925 of this title (article 125 of the Uniform Code of Mili- tary Justice). (3) An attempt to commit an offense speci- fied in paragraph (1) or (2) as punishable under section 880 of this title (article 80 of the Uni- form Code of Military Justice). (Added and amended Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title V, § 522(a)(1), (b), (c), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1380, 1381.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Text of section, as added by Pub. L. 115–91, is based on text of Pub. L. 113–291, div. A, title V, § 547, Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 3375, which was formerly set out in a note under section 1553 of this title before being transferred to this chapter and designated as the text of this sec- tion. AMENDMENTS 2017—Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(a)(1), inserted section enu- merator and catchline and transferred text of section 547 of Pub. L. 113–291 to this section. See Codification note above. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(c)(2), substituted ‘‘boards of the military department concerned estab- lished in accordance with this chapter’’ for ‘‘boards for the correction of military records of the military de- partment concerned’’ and ‘‘being the victim of a sex-re- lated offense’’ for ‘‘being the victim of such an of- fense’’. Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(c)(1), substituted ‘‘armed forces’’ for ‘‘Armed Forces’’ in two places. Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(b), substituted ‘‘who was the vic- tim of a sex-related offense, or alleges that the indi- vidual was the victim of a sex-related offense,’’ for ‘‘who was the victim of a sex-related offense’’. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(c)(3), substituted ‘‘boards of the military department concerned estab- lished in accordance with this chapter’’ for ‘‘boards for the correction of military records’’ in introductory pro- visions. Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(c)(1), substituted ‘‘armed forces’’ for ‘‘Armed Forces’’ in two places. Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(c)(4)(B), substituted ‘‘this title’’ for ‘‘title 10, United States Code’’. Subsec. (d)(2), (3). Pub. L. 115–91, § 522(c)(4)(C), sub- stituted ‘‘this title’’ for ‘‘such title’’. § 1555. Professional staff (a) The Secretary of each military department shall assign to the staff of the service review agency of that military department at least one attorney and at least one physician. Such as- signments shall be made on a permanent, full- time basis and may be made from members of the armed forces or civilian employees. (b) Personnel assigned pursuant to subsection (a)— (1) shall work under the supervision of the director or executive director (as the case may be) of the service review agency; and (2) shall be assigned duties as advisers to the director or executive director or other staff members on legal and medical matters, re- spectively, that are being considered by the agency. (c) In this section, the term ‘‘service review agency’’ means— (1) with respect to the Department of the Army, the Army Review Boards Agency; (2) with respect to the Department of the Navy, the Navy Council of Personnel Boards and the Board for Correction of Naval Records; and (3) with respect to the Department of the Air Force, the Department of the Air Force Re- view Boards Agency. (Added Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title V, § 542(a)(1), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2020; amended Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title V, § 582, Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 634; Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XVII, § 1722(j)(2)(A), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 673.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2023—Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 118–31 inserted ‘‘the De- partment of’’ after ‘‘Air Force,’’. 1999—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 106–65 inserted ‘‘the Navy Council of Personnel Boards and’’ after ‘‘Department of the Navy,’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title V, § 542(b), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2020, provided that: ‘‘Section 1555 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 17, 1998].’’ § 1556. Ex parte communications prohibited (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of each mili- tary department shall ensure that an applicant