§ 129c — Medical Personnel: Limitations On Reductions

(a) For any fiscal year, the Secretary of Defense may not make a reduction in the number of medical personnel of the Department of Defense described in subsection (b) unless the Secretary makes a certification for that fiscal year described in subsection (c). (b) Subsection (a) applies to a reduction in the number of medical personnel of the Department of Defense as of the end of a fiscal year to a number that is less than— (1) 95 percent of the number of such personnel at the end of the immediately preceding fiscal year; or (2) 90 percent of the number of such personnel at the end of the third fiscal year preceding the fiscal year. (c) A certification referred to in subsection (a) with respect to reductions in medical personnel of the Department of Defense for any fiscal year is a certification by the Secretary of Defense to Congress that— (1) the number of medical personnel being reduced is excess to the current and projected needs of the Department of Defense; and (2) such reduction will not result in an increase in the cost of health care services provided under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services under chapter 55 of this title. (d) Whenever the Secretary of Defense directs that there be a reduction in the total number of military medical personnel of the Department of Defense, the Secretary shall require that the reduction be carried out so as to ensure that the reduction is not exclusively or disproportionately borne by any one of the armed forces and is not exclusively or disproportionately borne by either the active or the reserve components. (e) In this section, the term “medical personnel” means— (1) the members of the armed forces covered by the term “medical personnel” as defined in section 115a(e)(2) of this title; and (2) the civilian personnel of the Department of Defense assigned to military medical facilities.