§ 316 — Special Pay: Bonus For Members With Foreign Language Proficiency

(a) Subject to subsection (c), the Secretary concerned may pay a bonus under this section to a member of the uniformed services who— (1) is qualified in a uniformed services specialty requiring proficiency in a foreign language identified by the Secretary concerned as a foreign language in which it is necessary to have personnel proficient because of national defense or public health considerations; (2) received training, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, designed to develop a proficiency in such a foreign language; (3) is assigned to duties requiring a proficiency in such a foreign language; or (4) is proficient in a foreign language for which the uniformed service may have a critical need, as determined by the Secretary concerned. (b) A bonus under subsection (a) may not exceed $12,000 per one-year certification period under subsection (c). The Secretary concerned may pay the bonus in a single lump sum at the beginning of the certification period or in installments during the certification period. The bonus is in addition to any other pay or allowance payable to a member under any other provision of law. (c) To be eligible to receive a bonus under this section, a member described in subsection (a) must be certified by the Secretary concerned as being proficient in the foreign language for which the bonus is offered. The certification of the member shall expire at the end of the one-year period beginning on the first day of the first month beginning on or after the certification date. (1) Notwithstanding subsection (c), the Secretary concerned may waive the certification requirement under such subsection and pay a bonus under this section to a member who— (A) is assigned to duty in connection with a contingency operation; (B) is unable to schedule or complete the certification required by subsection (c) because of that assignment; and (C) except for the lack of such certification, satisfies the eligibility requirements under subsection (a). (2) The Secretary concerned may treat the date on which the member was assigned to duty in connection with the contingency operation as equivalent to a certification date. In the case of a member whose certification will expire during such a duty assignment, the Secretary shall commence the next one-year certification period on the date on which the prior certification period expires. (3) A member who is paid a bonus under the authority of this subsection shall complete the certification required by subsection (c) for the foreign language for which the bonus was paid not later than the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date on which the member is released from the assignment in connection with the contingency operation. The Secretary concerned may extend that period for a member in accordance with regulations prescribed under subsection (f). (4) If a member fails to obtain the required certification under subsection (c) before the end of the period provided under paragraph (3), the Secretary concerned may require the member to repay all or a portion of the bonus in the manner provided in section 303a(e) of this title. (e) A member who receives a bonus under this section, but who does not satisfy an eligibility requirement specified in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4) of subsection (a) for the entire certification period, shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section 303a(e) of this title. (f) This section shall be administered under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, by the Secretary of Homeland Security for the Coast Guard when the Coast Guard is not operating as a service in the Navy, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service, and by the Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.