(a) In order to advance the programs and activities of the Defense Establishment, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to facilitate the interchange of civilian employees of the Defense Establishment between posts of duty in the United States and posts of duty outside the United States through the establishment and operation of programs for the rotation, to the extent consistent with the missions of the Defense Establishment and sound principles of administration, of such employees who are assigned to duty outside the United States.

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(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Defense with respect to civilian employees of the Department of Defense other than employees of a military department, and the Secretary of each military department with respect to civilian employees of such military department, may, under such regulations as each such Secretary may prescribe with respect to the employees concerned and in accordance with the policy and other provisions of this section, establish and operate programs of rotation which provide for the granting of the right to return to a position in the United States to each civilian employee in the department concerned—

(1) who, while serving under a career-conditional or career appointment in the competitive civil service, is assigned at the request of the department concerned to duty outside the United States,

(2) who satisfactorily completes such duty, and

(3) who applies, not later than 30 days after his completion of such duty, for the right to return to a position in the United States as provided by subsection (c).

The Secretary of the department concerned may provide by regulation for the waiver of the provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3), or of either of such paragraphs, in those cases in which the application of such paragraphs, or either of them, would be against equity and good conscience or against the public interest.

(c) The right to return to a position in the United States granted under this section shall be without reduction in the seniority, status, and tenure held by the employee immediately before his assignment to duty outside the United States and the employee shall be placed, not later than 30 days after the date on which he is determined to be immediately available to exercise such right in accordance with the following provisions:

(1) The employee shall be placed in the position which he held immediately before his assignment to duty outside the United States, if such position exists.

(2) If such position does not exist, or with his consent, the employee shall be placed in a vacant existing position, or in a new continuing position, for which he is qualified, available for the purposes of this section in the department concerned, in the same geographical area as, with rights and benefits equal to the rights and benefits of, and in a grade equal to the grade of, the position which he held immediately before his assignment to duty outside the United States.

(3) If the positions described in paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) do not exist, the employee shall be placed in an additional position which shall be established by the department concerned for a period not in excess of 90 days in order to carry out the purposes of this section. Such additional position shall be in the same geographical area as, with rights and benefits not less than the rights and benefits of, and in a grade not lower than the grade of, the position held by the employee immediately before his assignment to duty outside the United States.

(4) If, within 90 days after his placement in a position under paragraph (3) a vacant existing position or new continuing position, for which the employee is qualified, is available for the purposes of this section in the department concerned, in the same geographical area as, with rights and benefits equal to the rights and benefits of, and in a grade equal to the grade of, the position which he held immediately before his assignment to duty outside the United States, the employee shall be placed in such vacant existing position or new continuing position.

(5) If, within the 90-day period referred to in paragraphs (3) and (4), the employee cannot be placed in a position under paragraph (4), he shall be reassigned or separated under the regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management to carry out sections 3501-3503 of title 5.

(6) If there is a termination of or material change in the activity in which the former position of the employee (referred to in paragraph (1)) was located, he shall be placed, in the manner provided by paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), as applicable, in a position in the department concerned in a geographical area other than the geographical area in which such former position was located.

(d) Each employee who is placed in a position under paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), or (6) of subsection (c) shall be paid at a rate of basic pay which is not less than the rate of basic pay to which he would have been entitled if he had not been assigned to duty outside the United States.

(e)(1) Each employee who is displaced from a position by reason of the exercise of a return right under subsection (c)(1) shall be placed, as of the date of such displacement, without reduction in seniority, status, and tenure, in a vacant existing position or new continuing position, for which he is qualified, available in the department concerned, in the same geographical area as, with rights and benefits equal to the rights and benefits of, in a grade equal to the grade of, and at a rate of basic pay not less than the last rate of basic pay which is not less than the last rate of basic pay to which he was entitled while in, the position from which he is displaced.

(2) If the employee cannot be placed in a position under paragraph (1), he shall be reassigned to a position other than the position from which he is displaced, or separated, under the regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management to carry out sections 3501-3503 of title 5.

(f) The President may, upon his determination that such action is necessary in the national interest, declare that, for such period as he may specify, an assignment of an employee to duty in Alaska or Hawaii shall be held and considered, for the purposes of this section, to be an assignment to duty outside the United States.

(g) In this section:

(1) The term “rotation” means the assignment of civilian employees referred to in subsection (b) to duty outside the United States and the return of such employees to duty within the United States.

(2) The term “grade” means, as applicable, a grade of the General Schedule as prescribed in section 5104 of title 5 or a grade or level of the appropriate prevailing rate schedule.

(h) The Secretary of Defense may, under such regulations as he may prescribe, make the provisions of subsections (a) through (g) applicable to civilian employees of the Department of Defense who are residents of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico at the time of their employment by the Department of Defense in the same manner as if the references in such subsections to the United States (when used in a geographical sense) were references to Guam, the Virgin Islands, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as the case may be.