((a)) ** .—**

((1)) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations implementing a training program for child care employees. Those regulations shall apply uniformly among the military departments. Subject to paragraph (2), satisfactory completion of the training program shall be a condition of employment of any person as a child care employee.

((2)) Under those regulations, the Secretary shall require that each child care employee complete the training program not later than six months after the date on which the employee is employed as a child care employee.

((3)) The training program established under this subsection shall cover, at a minimum, training in the following:

((A)) Early childhood development.

((B)) Activities and disciplinary techniques appropriate to children of different ages.

((C)) Child abuse prevention and detection.

((D)) Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency medical procedures.

((b)) ** .—**

((1)) The Secretary of Defense shall require that at least one employee at each military child development center be a specialist in training and curriculum development. The Secretary shall ensure that such employees have appropriate credentials and experience.

((2)) The duties of such employees shall include the following:

((A)) Special teaching activities at the center.

((B)) Daily oversight and instruction of other child care employees at the center.

((C)) Daily assistance in the preparation of lesson plans.

((D)) Assistance in the center’s child abuse prevention and detection program.

((E)) Advising the director of the center on the performance of other child care employees.

((3)) Each employee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be an employee in a competitive service position.

((c)) ** .—**

((1)) For the purpose of providing military child development centers with a qualified and stable civilian workforce, employees at a military installation who are directly involved in providing child care and who are paid from nonappropriated funds—

((A)) in the case of entry-level employees, shall be paid a rate of pay competitive with the rates of pay paid to other equivalent non-Federal positions within the metropolitan statistical area or non-metropolitan statistical area (as the case may be) in which such Department employee’s position is located; and

((B)) in the case of any employee not covered by subparagraph (A), shall be paid a rate of pay competitive with the rates of pay paid to other employees with similar training, seniority, and experience within the metropolitan statistical area or non-metropolitan statistical area (as the case may be) in which such Department employee’s position is located.

((2)) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), no employee shall receive a rate of pay under this subsection that is lower than the minimum hourly rate of pay applicable to civilian employees of the Department of Defense.

((3)) For purposes of determining the rates of pay under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use the metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area occupational employment and wage estimates published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

((d)) ** .—** In this section, the term “competitive service position” means a position in the competitive service, as defined in .