§2516. Members asserting post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury

(a) Medical Examination Required.-

(1) In general.-The Secretary shall ensure that a member of the Coast Guard who has performed Coast Guard operations or has been sexually assaulted during the preceding 2-year period, and who is diagnosed by an appropriate licensed or certified healthcare professional as experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury or who otherwise alleges, based on the service of the member or based on such sexual assault, the influence of such a condition, receives a medical examination to evaluate a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.

(2) Restriction on administrative separation.-A member described in paragraph (1) shall not be administratively separated under conditions other than honorable, including an administrative separation in lieu of a court-martial, until the results of the medical examination have been reviewed by appropriate authorities responsible for evaluating, reviewing, and approving the separation case, as determined by the Secretary.

(3) Post-traumatic stress disorder.-In a case involving post-traumatic stress disorder under this subsection, a medical examination shall be-

(A) performed by-

(i) a board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist; or

(ii) a licensed doctorate-level psychologist; or

(B) performed under the close supervision of-

(i) a board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist; or

(ii) a licensed doctorate-level psychologist, a doctorate-level mental health provider, a psychiatry resident, or a clinical or counseling psychologist who has completed a 1-year internship or residency.

(4) Traumatic brain injury.-In a case involving traumatic brain injury under this subsection, a medical examination shall be performed by a physiatrist, psychiatrist, neurosurgeon, or neurologist.

(b) Purpose of Medical Examination.-The medical examination required under subsection (a) shall assess whether the effects of mental or neurocognitive disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, constitute matters in extenuation that relate to the basis for administrative separation under conditions other than honorable or the overall characterization of the service of the member as other than honorable.

(c) Inapplicability to Proceedings Under Uniform Code of Military Justice.-The medical examination and procedures required by this section do not apply to courts-martial or other proceedings conducted pursuant to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

(d) Coast Guard Operations Defined.-In this section, the term "Coast Guard operations" has the meaning given that term in section 888(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 468(a)).

(Added Pub. L. 117–263, div. K, title CXIV, §11410(a), Dec. 23, 2022, 136 Stat. 4116 .)