Lt. Col. Susie Dunham, USAF (Ret), MOAA’s director of Government Relations

More lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have joined MOAA and fellow stakeholders in advancing long-overdue duty status reform for the reserve component.

A bipartisan Senate bill (S. 4801) introduced June 16 would reduce the existing 30 duty statuses to just four – a move to eliminate a confusing classification process and streamline orders these servicemembers receive and the earned benefits that accompany each order. Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) sponsored the legislation; the House version, sponsored by Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), was introduced in January.

“This legislation enhances and simplifies the Pentagon’s access to the reserve force, helping improve mission readiness, and amplifying force posture across the spectrum of reserve components,” said Lt. Col. Susie Dunham, USAF (Ret), MOAA’s director of Government Relations for Currently Serving Affairs, at a June 17 press conference in Washington, D.C., announcing the Senate bill.