“(2)Plan required.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 12, 2017], the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives a comprehensive plan to implement the program established under paragraph (1). In developing the plan, the Secretary of Defense shall seek the input of relevant external parties, including professional associations, other government entities, and industry. The plan shall include the following elements:“(A) An assessment of the minimum level of subject matter experience, education, years of experience, certifications, and other qualifications required to be selected into the program, set forth separately for current Department of Defense employees and for personnel hired into the program from outside the Department of Defense.
“(B) A description of hiring flexibilities to be used to recruit qualified personnel from outside the Department of Defense.
“(C) A description of the extent to which mobility agreements will be required to be signed by personnel selected for the program during their participation in the program and after their completion of the program. The use of mobility agreements shall be applied to help maximize the flexibility of the Department of Defense in assigning personnel, while not inhibiting the participation of the most capable candidates.
“(D) A description of the tenure obligation required of personnel selected for the program.
“(E) A plan for training during the course of the program, including training in leadership, program management, engineering, finance and budgeting, market research, business acumen, contracting, supplier management, requirement setting and tradeoffs, intellectual property matters, and software.
“(F) A description of career paths to be followed by personnel in the program in order to ensure that personnel in the program gain expertise in the program management functional career field competencies identified by the Department in existing guidance and the topics listed in subparagraph (E), including—“(i) a determination of the types of advanced educational degrees that enhance program management skills and the mechanisms available to the Department of Defense to facilitate the attainment of those degrees by personnel in the program;
“(ii) a determination of required assignments to positions within acquisition programs, including position type and acquisition category of the program office;
“(iii) a determination of required or encouraged rotations to career broadening positions outside of acquisition programs; and
“(iv) a determination of how the program will ensure the opportunity for a required rotation to industry of at least six months to develop an understanding of industry motivation and business acumen, such as by developing an industry exchange program for civilian program managers, similar to the Corporate Fellows Program of the Secretary of Defense.
“(G) A general description of the number of personnel anticipated to be selected into the program, how frequently selections will occur, how long personnel selected into the program will participate in the program, and how personnel will be placed into an assignment at the completion of the program.
“(H) A description of benefits that will be offered under the program using existing human capital flexibilities to retain qualified employees, such as student loan repayments, bonuses, or pay banding.
“(I) An assessment of personnel flexibilities needed to allow the military departments and the Defense Agencies to reassign or remove program managers that do not perform effectively.
“(J) A description of how the program will be administered and overseen by the Secretaries of each military department, acting through the service acquisition executive for the department concerned.
“(K) A description of how the program will be integrated with existing program manager development efforts at each military department.
