((a)) ** .—** If the Secretary of a military department is notified by a local educational agency of the intent of the agency to close its Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, the Secretary shall offer the agency the option of converting the unit to a National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC) program unit in lieu of closing the unit.

((b))

((1)) ** .—** The Secretaries of the military departments may, without regard to any other provision of this chapter, undertake initiatives designed to promote flexibility in the hiring and compensation of instructors for the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program under the jurisdiction of such Secretaries.

((2)) ** .—** The initiatives undertaken pursuant to this subsection may provide for one or more of the following:

((A)) Termination of the requirement for a waiver as a condition of the hiring of well-qualified non-commissioned officers with a bachelor’s degree for senior instructor positions within the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

((B)) Specification of a single instructor as the minimum number of instructors required to found and operate a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps unit.

((C)) Authority for Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps instructors to undertake school duties, in addition to Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps duties, at small schools.

((D)) Authority for the payment of instructor compensation for a limited number of Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps instructors on a 10-month per year basis rather than a 12-month per year basis.

((E)) Such other actions as the Secretaries of the military departments consider appropriate.

((c)) ** .—** The Secretaries of the military departments shall take appropriate actions to provide so-called regional directors of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs located at remote rural schools enhanced discretion in the allocation and use of funds for travel in connection with Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps activities.

((d)) ** .—** The Secretary of Defense shall take appropriate actions to standardize the data collected and maintained on the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs in order to facilitate and enhance the collection and analysis of such data. Such actions shall include a requirement for the use of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) identification code for each school with a unit under a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in order to facilitate identification of such schools and their units under the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs.