View all text of Chapter 4 [§ 131 - § 149]
§ 139. Director of Operational Test and Evaluation
(a)
(1) There is a Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in the Department of Defense, appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Director shall be appointed without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of fitness to perform the duties of the office of Director. The Director may be removed from office by the President. The President shall communicate the reasons for any such removal to both Houses of Congress.
(2) In this section:
(A) The term “operational test and evaluation” means—
(i) the field test, under realistic combat conditions, of any item of (or key component of) weapons, equipment, or munitions for the purpose of determining the effectiveness and suitability of the weapons, equipment, or munitions for use in combat by typical military users; and
(ii) the evaluation of the results of such test.
(B) The term “major defense acquisition program” means a Department of Defense acquisition program that is a major defense acquisition program for purposes of section 4201 of this title or that is designated as such a program by the Director for purposes of this section.
(b) The Director is the principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering on operational test and evaluation in the Department of Defense and the principal operational test and evaluation official within the senior management of the Department of Defense. The Director shall—
(1) prescribe, by authority of the Secretary of Defense, policies and procedures for the conduct of operational test and evaluation in the Department of Defense;
(2) provide guidance to and consult with the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the Secretaries of the military departments with respect to operational test and evaluation in the Department of Defense in general and with respect to specific operational test and evaluation to be conducted in connection with a major defense acquisition program;
(3) monitor and review all operational test and evaluation in the Department of Defense;
(4) coordinate operational testing conducted jointly by more than one military department or defense agency;
(5) review and make recommendations to the Secretary of Defense on all budgetary and financial matters relating to operational test and evaluation, including operational test facilities and equipment, in the Department of Defense; and
(6) monitor and review the live fire testing activities of the Department of Defense provided for under section 4172 of this title.
(c) The Director may communicate views on matters within the responsibility of the Director directly to the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense without obtaining the approval or concurrence of any other official within the Department of Defense. The Director shall consult closely with, but the Director and the Director’s staff are independent of, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and all other officers and entities of the Department of Defense responsible for acquisition.
(d) The Director may not be assigned any responsibility for developmental test and evaluation, other than the provision of advice to officials responsible for such testing.
(e)
(1) The Secretary of a military department shall report promptly to the Director the results of all operational test and evaluation conducted by the military department and of all studies conducted by the military department in connection with operational test and evaluation in the military department.
(2) The Director may require that such observers as he designates be present during the preparation for and the conduct of the test part of any operational test and evaluation conducted in the Department of Defense.
(3) The Director shall have access to all records and data in the Department of Defense (including the records and data of each military department) that the Director considers necessary to review in order to carry out his duties under this section.
(4) The Director shall have prompt access to all data regarding modeling and simulation activity proposed to be used by military departments and defense agencies in support of operational or live fire test and evaluation of military capabilities. This access shall include data associated with verification, validation, and accreditation activities.
(f)
(1) The Director of the Missile Defense Agency shall make available to the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation the results of all tests and evaluations conducted by the Missile Defense Agency and of all studies conducted by the Missile Defense Agency in connection with tests and evaluations in the Missile Defense Agency.
(2) The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation may require that such observers as the Director designates be present during the preparation for and the conducting of any test and evaluation conducted by the Missile Defense Agency.
(3) The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation shall have access to all records and data in the Department of Defense (including the records and data of the Missile Defense Agency) that the Director considers necessary to review in order to carry out his duties under this subsection.
(g) The Director shall ensure that safety concerns developed during the operational test and evaluation of a weapon system under a major defense acquisition program are communicated in a timely manner to the program manager for that program for consideration in the acquisition decisionmaking process.
(h)
(1) The Director shall prepare an annual report summarizing the operational test and evaluation activities (including live fire testing activities) of the Department of Defense during the preceding fiscal year.
(2) Each such report shall be submitted concurrently to the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the Secretaries of the military departments, and the Congress not later than January 31 of each year.
(3) If the Director submits the report to Congress in a classified or controlled unclassified form, the Director shall concurrently submit to Congress a version of the report that is unclassified and does not require safeguarding or dissemination controls.
(4) The report shall include such comments and recommendations as the Director considers appropriate, including comments and recommendations on resources and facilities available for operational test and evaluation and levels of funding made available for operational test and evaluation activities. The report for a fiscal year shall also include an assessment of the waivers of and deviations from requirements in test and evaluation master plans and other testing requirements that occurred during the fiscal year, any concerns raised by the waivers or deviations, and the actions that have been taken or are planned to be taken to address the concerns.
(5) The Director shall solicit comments from the Secretaries of the military departments on each report of the Director to Congress under this section and include any comments as an appendix to the Director’s report. The Director shall determine the amount of time available for the Secretaries to comment on the draft report on a case by case basis, and consider the extent to which substantive discussions have already been held between the Director and the military department. The Director shall reserve the right to issue the report without comment from a military department if the department’s comments are not received within the time provided, and shall indicate any such omission in the report.
(i) The Director shall comply with requests from Congress (or any committee of either House of Congress) for information relating to operational test and evaluation in the Department of Defense.
(j) The President shall include in the Budget transmitted to Congress pursuant to section 1105 of title 31 for each fiscal year a separate statement of estimated expenditures and proposed appropriations for that fiscal year for the activities of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Director under this section.
(k) The Director shall have sufficient professional staff of military and civilian personnel to enable the Director to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the Director prescribed by law.
(Added Pub. L. 98–94, title XII, § 1211(a)(1), Sept. 24, 1983, 97 Stat. 684, § 136a; amended Pub. L. 99–348, title V, § 501(c), July 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 708; renumbered § 138 and amended Pub. L. 99–433, title I, §§ 101(a)(7), 110(d)(10), (g)(1), Oct. 1, 1986, 100 Stat. 995, 1003, 1004; Pub. L. 99–500, § 101(c) [title X, §§ 903(c), 910(c)], Oct. 18, 1986, 100 Stat. 1783–82, 1783–132, 1783–145, and Pub. L. 99–591, § 101(c) [title X, §§ 903(c), 910(c)], Oct. 30, 1986, 100 Stat. 3341–82, 3341–132, 3341–145; Pub. L. 99–661, div. A, title IX, formerly title IV, §§ 903(c), 910(c), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3912, 3924, renumbered title IX, Pub. L. 100–26, § 3(5), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 273; Pub. L. 100–26, § 7(a)(1), (c)(2), Apr. 21, 1987, 101 Stat. 275, 280; Pub. L. 100–180, div. A, title VIII, § 801, Dec. 4, 1987, 101 Stat. 1123; Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title VIII, § 802(b), title XVI, § 1622(e)(1), Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1486, 1605; Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title XIV, § 1484(k)(1), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1719; renumbered § 139 and amended Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title IX, §§ 901(a)(1), 904(d)(1), 907, Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1726, 1728, 1730; Pub. L. 103–355, title III, §§ 3011–3013, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3331, 3332; Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title IX, § 911(d)(1), Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 719; Pub. L. 107–107, div. A, title II, § 263, title X, § 1048(b)(2), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 1044, 1225; Pub. L. 107–314, div. A, title II, § 235, Dec. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 2491; Pub. L. 109–364, div. A, title II, § 231(f), Oct. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 2133; Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title II, § 221, Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 37; Pub. L. 110–417, [div. A], title II, § 251(c), Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4400; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, § 845, Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2292; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 887(a), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1916; Pub. L. 116–92, div. A, title VIII, § 815, title IX, § 902(4), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1487, 1542; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title II, § 271, title XVIII, §§ 1845(c)(1), 1846(i)(1), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3502, 4247, 4251; Pub. L. 117–81, div. A, title II, § 241, Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1619; Pub. L. 117–263, div. A, title II, § 231, Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 2486.)