Policy and Law

The Military Personnel Policy and Legislation page includes descriptions and links to important Department of Defense policies and U.S. government legislation that relate to the Deputate.

Department of Defense Policy

Department of Defense Directive 1145.02E, “United States Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM),” Oct. 18, 2012 – This directive updates policies and responsibilities for processing military applicants and inductees by the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command.

Department of Defense Directive 1304.19, “Appointment of Chaplains for the Military Departments,” June 11, 2004, Certified Current as of April 23, 2007 – This directive prescribes policy and responsibilities and continues the educational and ecclesiastical requirements for appointing military chaplains.

Department of Defense Directive 1304.20, “Enlisted Personnel Management System (EPMS),” July 28, 2005 – This directive updates policies and responsibilities regarding enlisted personnel management policies and data collection.

Department of Defense Directive 1418.05, “Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) Policy,” Oct. 6, 2003 – This directive establishes policy and assigns responsibilities regarding basic allowance for subsistence for the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security military personnel.

Department of Defense Directive 5160.58E, “Recruiting Facilities,” Aug. 31, 2005 – This directive updates policies and guidance for providing adequate space for recruiting offices, intermediate commands and main stations.

Department of Defense Instruction 1145.01, “Qualitative Distribution of Military Manpower,” Dec. 12, 2013, Incorporating Change 1, Effective Sept. 22, 2014 – This instruction establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for qualitative distribution of manpower accessions to the Active and Reserve Components of the military services.

Department of Defense Instruction 1215.07, “Service Credit for Non-Regular Retirement,” Jan. 24, 2013, Incorporating Change 2, May 24, 2016 – This instruction establishes policies, assigns responsibilities, prescribes procedures and establishes requirements for the crediting of active and reserve service for nonregular retirement.

Department of Defense Instruction 1215.08, “Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Programs,” June 26, 2006 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for Department of Defense oversight of the service academies.

Department of Defense Instruction 1300.17, “Accommodation of Religious Practices Within the Military Services,” Feb. 10, 2009, Incorporating Change 1, Effective Jan. 22, 2014 – This instruction prescribes policy, procedures and responsibilities for the accommodation of religious practices in the military services.

Department of Defense Instruction 1300.19, “DoD Joint Officer Management (JOM) Program,” 2018 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and provides general procedures for the Department of Defense Joint Officer Management Program.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.12E, “DoD Military Personnel Accession Testing Programs,” Sept. 20, 2005 – This instruction updates policies and responsibilities for the active and reserve components of the military services on the Department of Defense Enlistment Testing Program, the Department of Defense Student Testing Program, the Department of Defense In-Service Testing Program, the Department of Defense Overseas Testing Program and use of a common aptitude test, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.25, “Fulfilling the Military Service Obligation (MSO),” Oct. 31, 2013 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and updates the requirements, conditions and restrictions for fulfilling the statutory military service obligation.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.26, “Qualification Standards for Enlistment, Appointment, and Induction,” March 23, 2015, Incorporating Change 1, Effective April 6, 2015 – This instruction updates established policies and responsibilities for basic entrance qualification standards for enlistment, appointment and induction into the military services and delegates the authority to specify certain standards to the secretaries of the military departments.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.27, “Award and Administration of Special Duty Assignment Pay,” April 10, 2009, Incorporating Change 1, Effective April 22, 2015 – This instruction establishes departmental policy for and identifies conditions of entitlement and restrictions on authorization and payment.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.28, “Guidance for the Appointment of Chaplains for the Military Departments,” June 11, 2004, Incorporating Change 3, Effective March 20, 2014 – This instruction addresses responsibilities, requirements and procedures involving the appointment and endorsement of military chaplains.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.29, “Administration of Enlistment Bonuses, Accession Bonuses for New Officers in Critical Skills, Selective Reenlistment Bonuses, and Critical Skills Retention Bonuses for Active Members,” Dec. 15, 2004, Incorporating Change 1, July 11, 2016 – This instruction implements policies, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures with regard to the administration of the enlistment and Selective Reenlistment Bonuses for active enlisted service members, Critical Skills Retention Bonuses for active enlisted service members and officers and the accession bonus for new officers in critical skills.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.30, “Enlisted Personnel Management Plan (EPMP) Procedures,” March 14, 2006 – This instruction implements procedures for the administration of the Enlisted Personnel Management Plan.

Department of Defense Instruction 1304.32, “Military Services Recruiting Related Reports,” March 26, 2013 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and provides procedures regarding the tracking and reporting of various recruiting related data.

Department of Defense Instruction1304.33, “Protecting Against Inappropriate Relations During Recruiting and Entry Level Training,” Jan. 28, 2015 – This instruction establishes policies, assigns responsibilities and provides direction to prohibit inappropriate relations between recruiters and recruits, and trainers and trainees.

Department of Defense Instruction 1312.03, “Service Credit for Commissioned Officers,” Nov. 22, 2013 – This instruction updates established policy, assigned responsibilities and prescribed procedures that govern granting service credit to persons receiving original appointments as regular or reserve commissioned officers.R

Department of Defense Instruction 1315.09, “Utilization of Enlisted Aides (EAs) on Personal Staffs of General and Flag Officers (G/FOs),” March 6, 2015 – This instruction establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for the utilization of enlisted aides on personal staffs of general and flag officers.

Department of Defense Instruction 1315.18, “Procedures for Military Personnel Assignments,” Oct. 28, 2015 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and provides procedures for the assignment and reassignment of service members.

Department of Defense Instruction 1320.04, “Military Officer Actions Requiring Presidential, Secretary of Defense, or Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Approval or Senate Confirmation,” Jan. 3, 2014 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for the submission of military officer personnel actions requiring review by or approval of the president, secretary of defense or under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness or confirmation by the senate.

Department of Defense Instruction 1320.08, “Continuation of Commissioned Officers on Active Duty and on the Reserve Active-Status List,” March 14, 2007, Incorporating Change 1, April 14, 2012 – This instruction updates policy governing continuation of commissioned officers on the active-duty list and reserve commissioned officers on the reserve active-status list.

Department of Defense Instruction 1320.11, “Special Selection Boards,” Feb. 12, 2013 – This instruction updates policy, responsibilities and procedures for the use of Special Selection Boards for commissioned officers on active-duty lists and commissioned warrant officers on service warrant officer active- duty lists, and Reserve Component use of Special Selection Boards for commissioned officers on the reserve active-status list.

Department of Defense Instruction 1320.14, “Commissioned Officer Promotion Program Procedures,” Dec. 11, 2013 – This instruction establishes policy, assign responsibilities and prescribe procedures for administering the commissioned officer promotion program in the Department of Defense.

Department of Defense Instruction 1322.22, “Service Academies,” Sept. 24, 2015 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for Department of Defense oversight of the service academies.

Department of Defense Instruction 1332.29, “Eligibility of Regular and Reserve Personnel for Separation Pay,” June 20, 1991, Incorporating Change 2, Sept. 20, 2011 – This instruction implements legislative changes and updates policy, procedures and responsibilities for determining eligibility for separation pay for regular and reserve members who are involuntarily separated from active duty.

Department of Defense Instruction 1332.30, “Separation of Regular and Reserve Commissioned Officers,” Nov. 25, 2013 – This instruction establishes Department of Defense policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures governing separation of regular and reserve commissioned officers.

Department of Defense Instruction 1334.02, “Frocking of Commissioned Officers,” Dec. 7, 2012 – This instruction establishes policies and procedures and assign responsibilities to frock officers.

Department of Defense Instruction 1336.08, “Military Human Resources Records Life Cycle Management,” Nov. 13, 2009 – This instruction establishes policy and assigns responsibilities for military human resources records life cycle management.

Department of Defense Instruction 5120.08, “Armed Forces Chaplains Board,” Aug. 20, 2007 –This instruction promulgates policy regarding the organization, functions and administration of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board.

Department of Defense Instruction 6130.03, “Medical Standards for Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction in the Military Services,” April 28, 2010, Incorporating Change 1, Sept. 13, 2011 – This instruction establishes policy, assigns responsibilities and prescribes procedures for physical and medical standards for appointment, enlistment or induction in the military services.

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 1330.05A, “Joint Officer Management Program Procedures,” Dec. 15, 2015 – This instruction provides the procedures and responsibilities for implementation of the Department of Defense Joint Officer Management and Joint Qualification System for Active Component and Reserve Component officers.

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 1331.01D, “Manpower and Personnel Actions Involving General and Flag Officers,” Aug. 1, 2010, Directive current as of Feb. 11, 2013 – This instruction implements Department of Defense policy and provides guidance for the effective management of general/flag officer actions involving joint duty assignments or positions of importance and responsibility.

Joint Travel Regulations – The Joint Travel Regulations are applicable to uniformed members of the seven uniformed services (uniformed members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps), Department of Defense civilian employees and others traveling at department.

U.S. Government Law

Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle A, Part 1, “Organization and General Military Powers” – This law includes Sections 111 to 498 of Title 10 and addresses organization and general military powers, including the Department of Defense, defense agencies and Department of Defense field activities.

Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle A, Part 2, “Personnel” – This law includes Sections 501 to 1800 of Title 10 and addresses personnel, including officer strength and distribution in grade, and promotion, separation and involuntary retirement of officers on the active-duty list.

Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle A, Part 3, “Training and Education” – This law includes Sections 2001 to 2200f of Title 10 and addresses training and education, including the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, and Educational Loan Repayment Programs

Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle E, Part II, “Personnel Generally” – This law includes Sections 12001 to 12774 of Title 10 and addresses personnel provisions of the Reserve Components.

Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle E, Part III, “Promotion and Retention of Officers on the Reserve Active-Status List” – This law includes Sections 14001 to 14907 of Title 10 and addresses reserve officer personnel provisions.

Title 10, U.S. Code, Subtitle E, Part IV, “Training for Reserve Components and Educational Assistance Programs” – This law includes Sections 16131 to 16401 of Title 10 and includes educational assistance programs for the Reserve Components. Title 32, U.S. Code, “National Guard” – This law addresses the National Guard, including organization, personnel, training and service, supply and procurement.

Title 37, U.S. Code, “Pay and Allowances of the Uniformed Services” – This law addresses pay and allowances of the uniformed services, including basic pay, special and incentive pays, and allowances other than travel and transportation allowances.

Title 38, U.S. Code, Chapters 30, “All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program” – This law addresses an educational assistance program to assist in the readjustment of members of the armed forces to civilian life after their separation from military service.

Title 38, U.S. Code, Chapters 31, “Training and Rehabilitation for Veterans with Service-Connected Disabilities” – This law addresses the program that provides for services and assistance necessary to enable veterans with service-connected disabilities to achieve maximum independence in daily living and, to the maximum extent feasible, to become employable and to obtain and maintain suitable employment.

Title 38, U.S. Code, Chapters 32, “Post-Vietnam Era Veterans’ Educational Assistance” – This law establishes a program to provide educational assistance to service members who enter the armed forces after Dec. 31, 1976, and before July 1, 1985.

Title 38, U.S. Code, Chapters 33, “Post-9/11 Educational Assistance” – This law establishes educational assistance for service members who serve in the armed forces commencing on or after Sept. 11, 2001.

Title 38, U.S. Code, Chapters 34, “Veterans’ Educational Assistance” – This law establishes an education program to enhance and making more attractive service in the armed Forces of the United States, extend the benefits of a higher education to qualified and deserving young persons who might not otherwise be able to afford such an education, provide vocational readjustment and restoring lost educational opportunities to those service men and women whose careers have been interrupted or impeded by reason of active duty after Jan. 31, 1955, and aide such persons in attaining the vocational and educational status which they might normally have aspired to and obtained had they not served their country.

MPA Regulations

DoD Instruction 1336.05 “Automated Extract of Active Duty Military Personnel Records,” 7/28/2009

DoD Manual 1336.05 “Defense Manpower Data Center Domain Values for Military Personnel Data Extracts,” 7/28/2009

DoD Instruction 7730.54 “Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System (RCCPDS),” 5/20/2011

Volume 1 DoD Manual 7730.54 “Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System (RCCPDS): Reporting Procedures,” 5/25/2011

Volume 2 DoD Manual 7730.54 “Reserve Components Common Personnel Data System (RCCPDS): Domain Values for Reserve Components (RC) Personnel Reports,” 5/25/2011

DoD Instruction 7770.02 “Reporting Requirements for Active Components Military Pay File Extracts (ACMPFE),” 6/13/2011

DoD Instruction 7770.03 “Reporting Requirements for Reserve Components Military Pay File Extracts (RCMPFE),” 12/5/2011