§415. Composition and operation of Retirement Home Board

(a) Establishment

There is hereby established the Armed Forces Retirement Home Board. The Retirement Home Board shall exercise policy oversight over the Retirement Home and oversee the activities of any Local Boards of trustees.

(b) Members

The Retirement Home Board shall consist of not less than 16 members who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense, unless otherwise indicated, as follows:

(1) One representative from the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Management and Personnel).

(2) One representative from the Department of Defense Comptroller's office.

(3) One representative from the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs).

(4) One representative from the office of the General Counsel of the Department of Defense.

(5) Two persons who are experts in the operations of retirement homes and who are not officers or employees of the United States.

(6) Two persons who are gerontologists and who are not officers or employees of the United States.

(7) Two persons who are personnel chiefs of the Armed Forces.

(8) Two persons who are senior noncommissioned officers of the Armed Forces.

(9) One representative from the Office of Management and Budget who shall be designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(10) One representative from a national noncommissioned officer association or a military retiree council who shall be a nonvoting member of the Board.

(11) One representative of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs who shall be designated by that Secretary.

(12) One officer or employee of the Department of Health and Human Services who shall be designated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(c) Local Boards

Each establishment of the Retirement Home shall have a Board of trustees which shall exercise operational oversight over the respective facility and provide reports to the Retirement Home Board at least twice annually. Each Local Board shall consist of at least 11 members appointed by the Secretaries of the military departments. The Local Boards shall consist of the following:

(1) One person who is a civilian expert in nursing home or retirement home administration and financing from the geographical area of each facility.

(2) One person who is a civilian expert in gerontology from the geographical area of each facility.

(3) One person who is a service expert in financial management.

(4) One representative from the Department of Veterans Affairs regional office nearest in proximity to each facility who shall be designated by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(5) One representative from the resident advisory committee or council of the respective facility who shall be a nonvoting member.

(6) One enlisted representative of the Services' Retiree Advisory Council.

(7) The senior noncommissioned officer of an Armed Force.

(8) One senior representative from the military hospital nearest in proximity to each facility.

(9) One senior representative from the Judge Advocate General's Corps from one of the Armed Services.

(10) The director of the respective facility who shall be a nonvoting member.

(11) One senior representative of one of the chief personnel officers of the Armed Services.

(d) Chairmen

(1)(A) The Secretary of Defense shall select one of the members of the Retirement Home Board to serve as chairman. The term of office of the chairman shall be five years. At the discretion of the Secretary a chairman may serve a second five-year term of office as chairman.

(B) The chairman shall act as the chief executive officer of the Armed Forces Retirement Home and while so acting shall not be responsible to the Secretary of Defense or to the Secretaries of the military departments for direction and management of the Retirement Home or each facility maintained as a separate facility of the Retirement Home.

(C) The chairman may appoint, in addition to such ad hoc committees as the chairman determines to be appropriate, a standing executive committee to act for, and in the name of, the Retirement Home Board at such times and on such matters as the chairman considers necessary to expedite the efficient and timely management of each facility maintained as a separate facility of the Retirement Home.

(D) The chairman may appoint an administrative staff to assist the chairman in the performance of the duties of the chairman. The chairman shall determine the rates of pay applicable to such staff, except that a staff member who is a member of the Armed Forces on active duty or who is a full-time officer or employee of the United States shall receive no additional pay by reason of service on the administrative staff.

(2) The Secretaries of the military departments shall select the chairman for each Local Board from the members of that Board. The term of office of the chairman of a Local Board shall be three years.

(e) Terms

(1) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, the term of office of each member of the Retirement Home Board and each Local Board shall be five years.

(2) A member whose term of office has expired may continue to serve until the successor for the member is appointed or designated.

(3) The Chairman of the Retirement Home Board may appoint a member of the Retirement Home Board for a second consecutive term. The Chairman of a Local Board may appoint a member of that Local Board for a second consecutive term.

(f) Early expiration of term

A member of the Armed Forces or Federal civilian employee who is appointed as a member of the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board may serve as a board member only so long as the member of the Armed Forces or Federal civilian employee is assigned to or serving in the duty position that gave rise to the appointment as a board member.

(g) Vacancies

(1) A vacancy in the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board shall be filled in the manner in which the original appointment or designation was made.

(2) A member appointed or designated to fill a vacancy occurring before the end of the term of the predecessor of the member shall be appointed or designated, as the case may be, for the remainder of the term for which the predecessor was appointed.

(3) A vacancy in the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board shall not affect its authority to perform its duties.

(h) Compensation

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), members of the Retirement Home Board and members of the Local Boards shall-

(A) be provided a stipend consistent with the daily government consultant fee for each day in which the member is engaged in the performance of services for the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board; and

(B) while away from home or regular place of business in the performance of services for the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board, be allowed travel expenses (including per diem in lieu of subsistence) in the same manner as a person employed intermittently in Government under sections 5701 through 5707 of title 5.

(2) A member of the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board who is a member of the Armed Forces on active duty or a full-time officer or employee of the United States shall receive no additional pay by reason of service on the Retirement Home Board or a Local Board.

(i) Meetings

(1) The Retirement Home Board shall meet twice a year, or at more frequent intervals, at the call of the chairman or a majority of the members.

(2) The first meeting of the Retirement Home Board shall be held during the 30-day period beginning on the later of-

(A) the effective date specified in section 1541(a); and ¹

(B) the date on which the last of the five members required by subsection (b) of this section to be appointed is first appointed.

( Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title XV, §1515, Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1726 ; Pub. L. 102–190, div. A, title X, §1062(a)(4), Dec. 5, 1991, 105 Stat. 1475 ; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title III, §366(b), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1630 ; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title X, §1051(a), (b)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2648 .)

References in Text

For the effective date specified in section 1541(a), referred to in subsec. (i)(2)(A), see Effective Date note set out under section 401 of this title.

Amendments

1996-Subsec. (e)(3). Pub. L. 104–201, §1051(a), added par. (3).

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104–201, §1051(b)(1), amended heading and text of subsec. (f) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: "Not later than the effective date specified in section 1541(a), members of the Retirement Home Board and the members of each Local Board shall be first appointed to staggered terms."

1993-Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 103–160 amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: "The Secretary of Defense shall select one of the members of the Retirement Home Board to serve as chairman. The term of office of the chairman of the Retirement Home Board shall be five years."

1991-Subsecs. (a), (c). Pub. L. 102–190, §1062(a)(4)(A), substituted "Local Boards" for "local boards".

Subsec. (d)(2). Pub. L. 102–190, §1062(a)(4)(B), substituted "that Board" for "that board".

Change of Name

Reference to Comptroller of the Department of Defense to be treated as reference to Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) pursuant to section 903(d) of Pub. L. 103–337, set out as a note under section 135 of Title 10, Armed Forces.

Effective Date

Section effective one year after Nov. 5, 1990, except that provisions of this section relating to appointment and designation of members of Retirement Home Board and Local Boards effective Oct. 1, 1991, see section 1541(a), (c) of Pub. L. 101–510, set out as a note under section 401 of this title.

Savings Provision

Section 1051(b)(2) of Pub. L. 104–201 provided that: "The amendment made by this subsection [amending this section] shall not affect the staggered terms of members of the Armed Forces Retirement Home Board or a Local Board of the Retirement Home under section 1515(f) of such Act [subsec. (f) of this section], as such section is in effect before the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 23, 1996]."

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 416, 424 of this title.

¹ So in original. Probably should be "or".