§ 977. Conversion of military medical and dental positions to civilian medical and dental positions: limitation

• (a) The Secretary of Defense, in collaboration with the Secretaries of the military departments, shall establish a process to define the military medical and dental personnel requirements necessary to meet operational medical force readiness requirements.
• (b) A military medical or dental position within the Department of Defense may be converted to a civilian medical or dental position if the Secretary determines that the position is not necessary to meet operational medical force readiness requirements, as determined pursuant to subsection (a).
• (c) In carrying out a conversion under subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense—
  • (1) shall convert the applicable military position to a civilian position with a level of compensation commensurate with the skills and experience necessary to carry out the duties of such civilian position; and
  • (2) may not place any limitation on the grade or level to which the military position is so converted.
• (d) In this section:
  • (1) The term “military medical or dental position” means a position for the performance of health care functions within the armed forces held by a member of the armed forces.
  • (2) The term “civilian medical or dental position” means a position for the performance of health care functions within the Department of Defense held by an employee of the Department or of a contractor of the Department.
  • (3) The term “conversion”, with respect to a military medical or dental position, means a change of the position to a civilian medical or dental position, effective as of the date of the manning authorization document of the military department making the change (through a change in designation from military to civilian in the document, the elimination of the listing of the position as a military position in the document, or through any other means indicating the change in the document or otherwise).