The Department of Defense has amended its proposed rule on operational contract support in high-risk areas outside the United States, after reviewing 14 comments on the draft policy.
The final rule, which will take effect on May 31, includes the agency’s stance on medical care of defense contractor personnel and the disclosure of injuries and fatalities that occurred while they were in military facilities, DOD stated Monday on the Federal Register.
The agency initially published the proposed rule in January 2021 in compliance with the National Defense Authorization Act. Respondents to the draft policy raised issues such as monitoring and reporting human rights violations and the type of government support received by deployed contractor personnel.
On the issue of human rights violation reporting, DOD said that it is still developing procedures for reporting HRV allegations. The OCS regulation will be updated as soon as the processes are finalized.
DOD also clarified the issue of health care support for contractor employees at military facilities. It referenced the DOD Instruction entitled “Health Care Eligibility Under the Secretarial Designee (SECDES) Program and Related Special Authorities.” The department also adjusted the OCS rule allowing life, medical, mission, logistics and administrative assistance in certain military environments considered austere, hostile or non-permissive.
