Other statutory tools

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense acting through USD(R&E)

Eligibility gate

• USD(R&E) designates eligible states using statutory funding and state-commitment criteria.
• Awards support defense-responsive science/engineering and competitive research capacity.

Funding condition

• Available program appropriations; no entitlement from designation alone.

All recorded limits

• Geographically targeted eligibility; not a universal state economic-development grant.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense acting through USD(R&E) and military-department Secretaries

Eligibility gate

• Covered institution as defined by §4144(f); defense-related research/education purpose.
• FY2026 onward specified research-capacity program must issue separate opportunities for HBCU/Tribal institutions and other MSIs.

Funding condition

• Appropriated program funds; funding may be limited to institutions without significant prior DoD RDT&E support.

All recorded limits

• USD(R&E)-run program’s programming/budgeting authority cannot be transferred outside OSD.
• Award eligibility does not eliminate competition and applicable research-security restrictions.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense

Eligibility gate

• Critical discipline, eligible citizenship/institution, written service agreement at least matching supported study period.

Funding condition

• Scholarship/fellowship funds; sponsor must identify funded employment and service placement.

All recorded limits

• Non-U.S. TTCP participation capped at 5 new recipients per year.
• Noncompletion/service failure can create repayment debt; Secretary has specified waiver authority.

Authority holder

Directors of designated STRLs; specified research/test directors for covered positions

Eligibility gate

• Position and candidate must fit scientific/engineering, veteran STEM or student categories.
• Annual caps by category based on prior-year filled positions; senior technical positions have separate limits.

Funding condition

• Existing laboratory personnel funds; no automatic additional funded billets.

All recorded limits

• Budget control remains; exclusion from personnel limits does not cover SES or scientific/professional §3104 positions.
• Other preserved civil-service requirements remain.

Authority holder

Named officials: Secretary of Defense for designated labs; DARPA, DOT&E, SCO, DIU, NGA, SDA, USCYBERCOM, USD(R&E), OSC leaders

Eligibility gate

• Only listed organizations/fields, position counts and compensation rules.
• Normal term 4 years; specified extension up to 2 years when statutory conditions met.

Funding condition

• Organization budget must cover compensation; elevated statutory pay ceiling is not salary authorization for every position.

All recorded limits

• Not a general DoD exception for hiring any consultant.
• SDA provision sunsets 2030-12-31; joint-AI paragraph(a)(6) shows expired 2024-12-31 in audited baseline and is not represented as current.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense program; Service acquisition executive or military-department Secretary approves applicable pay

Eligibility gate

• Extremely high expertise and critical research/technology mission; use only to recruit/retain exceptionally qualified person.

Funding condition

• Available personnel appropriations; service approval of program and compensation.

All recorded limits

• Normally not more than 5 positions per military department, with statutory allocation-transfer option.
• Position term less than 5 years.

Authority holder

Secretary of Defense or military department Secretary

Eligibility gate

• Advantageous to the United States and not adequately available within DoD.
• §3109 temporary service normally no more than one year, or intermittent; applicable compensation rules.

Funding condition

• Lawfully available component funds; no additional appropriation created.

All recorded limits

• Not an unrestricted exemption from conflict-of-interest or inherently governmental responsibilities.
• §129b(d) separately permits narrowly conditioned personal-service contracts for overseas, defense intelligence/counterintelligence, or SOCOM support.