How does the new law differ from the previous version?
There shall be in the Service a commissioned Regular Corps and, for the purpose of securing a reserve for duty in the Service in time of national emergency, a Ready Reserve Corps. All commissioned officers shall be citizens and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.the Classification Act of 1923, as amended. Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall be appointed by the President and commissioned officers of the Regular Corps shall be appointed by him by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall at all times be subject to call to active duty by the Surgeon General, including active duty for the purpose of training and active duty for the purpose of determining their fitness for appointment in the Regular Corps. Warrant officers may be appointed to the Service for the purpose of providing support to the health and delivery systems maintained by the Service and any warrant officer appointed to the Service shall be considered for purposes of this chapter and title 37 to be a commissioned officer within the commissioned corps of the Service.
(b) ASSIMILATING RESERVE CORP OFFICERS INTO THE REGULAR CORPS.—Effective on the date of enactment of the Affordable Health Choices Act, all individuals classified as officers in the Reserve Corps under this section (as such section existed on the day before the date of enactment of such Act) and serving on active duty shall be deemed to be commissioned officers of the Regular Corps.
(c) PURPOSE AND USE OF READY RESERVE.—
(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Ready Reserve Corps is to fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both routine public health and emergency response missions.
(2) USES.—The Ready Reserve Corps shall—
(A) participate in routine training to meet the general and specific needs of the Commissioned Corps;
(B) be available and ready for involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises, similar to the uniformed service reserve personnel;
(C) be available for backfilling critical positions left vacant during deployment of active duty Commissioned Corps members, as well as for deployment to respond to public health emergencies, both foreign and domestic; and
(D) be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved communities (as defined in section 399SS) to improve access to health services.
(d) FUNDING.—For the purpose of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Commissioned Corps under this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to the Office of the Surgeon General for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. Funds appropriated under this subsection shall be used for recruitment and training of Commissioned Corps Officers.
i got a warning at opening that the text was altered
. is the bill that got signed yesterday HR3590 authroed Dec 24, 2009 ? ?
This new version removed the cap on the number of “troops” admitted into the Ready Reserve Corps.
12 is amended by striking ‘‘not to exceed 2,800’’.