Portman’s specialized military workforce priorities included in NDAA

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) praised the passage last week of the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which included priority provisions from his bipartisan bill to ramp up the number of digital and software development experts serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The action signals that both chambers of Congress have resolved their differences over the NDAA, S. 1790, which soon will head to the president’s desk to be signed into law.

“Computer science and digital engineering competency have become increasingly important for the success of the American warfighter,” said Sen. Portman, co-founder and co-chair of the U.S. Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus. “This bipartisan legislation ensures we prioritize servicemembers with digital skills and expertise and put them in roles where they can best put those unique skills to work.”

Sen. Portman in May cosponsored the Armed Forces Digital Advantage Act, S. 1471, with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) to require digital engineering as a core competency of the Armed Force, according to the bill’s text.

Specifically, the bill aims to modernize the U.S. Department of Defense workforce by adding a recruitment focus and establishing military career tracks for individuals with digital expertise and software development skills, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Portman’s office.

Provisions from S. 1471 were incorporated into Sections 230 and 231 of the NDAA, such as requiring the Secretary of Defense to devise an implementation plan to recruit and develop digital engineering specialists, as well as creating a digital engineering capability for the development and deployment of acquisition programs and software support, the summary says.