((a)) ** .—** Under regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (c), any officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force or any civilian employee of the Department of Defense designated in accordance with those regulations may act upon reports of surveys and vouchers pertaining to the loss, spoilage, unserviceability, unsuitability, or destruction of, or damage to, property of the United States under the control of the Department of Defense.

((b)) ** .—**

((1)) Action taken under subsection (a) is final except as provided in paragraph (2).

((2)) An action holding a person pecuniarily liable for loss, spoilage, destruction, or damage is not final until approved by a person designated to do so by the Secretary of a military department, commander of a combatant command, or Director of a Defense Agency, as the case may be, who has jurisdiction of the person held pecuniarily liable. The person designated to provide final approval shall be an officer of an armed force, or a civilian employee, under the jurisdiction of the official making the designation.

((c)) ** .—** The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section.