A pilot program that allows overseas Defense Department civilians to remain abroad past the so-called "five-year rule" made its way into the final version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act. (Arcadia Hammack/U.S. Army National Guard)
A congressional proposal designed to make it easier for government service employees of the military to stay in their overseas jobs past a five-year term limit was added to a defense bill expected to be voted on in the days ahead.
The agreement between the House and Senate calls for a two-year pilot program in which the Defense Department would assess whether allowing competitive service staffers to extend their tours beyond the so-called “five-year rule” would aid in recruitment and retention.
The plan gives the first colonel or Navy captain in a person’s chain of command the authority to approve a one-time five-year tour extension, according to the final version of the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, which was released Saturday. The provision would sunset two years after the passage of the bill.
Currently, Defense Department government service workers are limited to five-year tours overseas. While extensions are possible, they are expected to be used on a limited basis and only for special exceptions, such as when a person’s skills are deemed indispensable to a command.
Approvals also require extensive paperwork and justifications that are submitted to a general officer.
Now, no analysis is required to justify extending a person’s tour by an extra five years, the NDAA states.
The NDAA provision requires the secretary of defense to deliver a report by Dec. 31, 2025, and annually thereafter for five years. The reports would analyze the effects of longer tour opportunities on retention and recruitment.
The five-year rule has been a point of contention for many government service employees, who have complained over the years that the policy has been enforced unevenly, raising questions about fairness.
The original aim of the policy was to prevent “homesteading” overseas and ensure ample opportunities abroad for the Defense Department’s domestic workforce.
But the rule also created a situation in which personnel who enjoyed being overseas rotated back to the United States, only to return a couple of years later when they were eligible again.
Government service employees also have complained that taking an overseas job can limit their options when it’s time to return to the United States because counterparts working in the U.S. aren’t subject to the same five-year rule.
The steady turnover of civilian personnel also has raised concerns about a lack of continuity and institutional knowledge at overseas commands.
That has resulted in a loss of expertise at U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa and hindered its ability to sustain institutional knowledge, the Rand Corp. think tank said in September.
