The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel on Thursday adopted its personnel mark for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026 and voted to send the subcommittee's recommendations to the full committee.

The subcommittee, meeting in open session for the markup, adopted a managers' package of 41 agreed amendments without objection and approved a motion "that the recommendations of the subcommittee be reported to the full committee and that the staff be authorized to draft bill and report language implementing agreements reached today," the chairman said. Both measures were approved by voice vote.

The personnel mark, described by the chairman as a legislative package containing 51 legislative provisions and 42 items of special interest, would do several things for service members and military-connected families. Highlights identified during the meeting include authorizing military end strength levels consistent with the president's budget request; changes to the disability evaluation system; codifying an Army university to consolidate professional military education; and measures to improve transparency of allowances, bonuses and tax benefits that affect military compensation.

The mark would also direct new or expanded support for military-connected education. The chairman said the package "authorizes $50,000,000 in supplemental impact aid to local educational agencies with military dependent children and $30,000,000 in impact aid for schools with military dependent children with severe disabilities" and would require the secretary of defense to improve staffing of special education teachers and staff at Department of Defense schools. Senator Warren, the subcommittee's ranking member, described somewhat different dollar figures when discussing the mark's support for school districts: "including $10,000,000 for impact aid payments for children with severe disabilities and $20,000,000 for local schools the Secretary of Defense identifies as having high concentrations of military children with severe disabilities," she said.

Other personnel and readiness-related provisions noted by the panel include authorizing an increase in the number of junior reserve officers training corps units by 100, a cash payment program for volunteers to serve as JROTC instructors, extensions of authorities for early retirement and voluntary separation pay, and requirements for additional justification and congressional notification before the secretary of defense may close or downsize a military medical facility.

The mark also creates a graduate medical education partnership demonstration program, requires priority assessments of military medical personnel at Defense Department hospitals and clinics, and directs the Comptroller General to review and issue a report on the curriculum offered at the military service academies.

Senator Warren, who praised the bipartisan work that produced the personnel mark, highlighted health and safety provisions that would expand study and data collection on blast overpressure injuries. She described prior NDAA provisions and stressed continued research: "These reforms help commanders better protect their troops from unnecessary exposure by collecting more data on blast overpressure risks during the weapons testing and acquisition process," she said, and called for a longitudinal study of long-term consequences.

The chairman also outlined rules governing which amendments would be in order during the subcommittee markup, saying amendments outside the subcommittee's jurisdiction, amendments that would constitute an earmark, and amendments to add funding without an offset would not be in order. The managers' package presented to members was identified as beginning with "Shaheen 7 modified 1" and ending with "Duckworth 499 modified 1."

After the voice votes the chairman moved to report the subcommittee recommendations to the full committee and authorized staff to draft bill and report language and to make technical and conforming changes; that motion was seconded and agreed to by voice vote.

The meeting concluded with the chairman and ranking member thanking committee and staff members for their work.