GAO to Study Feasibility of One-Year Active Duty Military Service Program

The “Gateways to Advancement and Preparedness for Military Service Act,” or GAP for Military Service Act, doesn’t actually create a new military program—it commissions a deep-dive study into whether one could exist. Specifically, this bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to spend the next year studying the feasibility of creating a one-year active duty service option in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Why Study a One-Year Stint?

This isn't about mandatory service; it's about exploring a new recruitment pathway. The idea is to see if a short commitment could attract people who might not be interested in the traditional four-year enlistment but still want the benefits or experience of military service. The GAO’s job is to figure out if this is even practical for the military, which is why the study has some highly specific requirements laid out in Section 2.

The Homework Assignment: What the GAO Must Deliver

Within one year of this bill becoming law, the GAO must submit a detailed report to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. This report has to be the definitive guide on whether a short-term program makes sense. For instance, the GAO must identify exactly which military jobs (Military Occupational Specialties, or MOS) could actually be learned and performed effectively in just one year. They also need to detail the advanced training requirements needed to get recruits up to speed that quickly.

Crucially, the GAO must look outside the U.S. and evaluate similar one-year service programs in other countries. This is smart: why reinvent the wheel if another nation has already figured out the kinks in a short-term service model? The report must also include a full assessment of the implementation costs—because training and equipping service members, even for a year, isn't cheap—and identify all the potential barriers to actually making this program happen. For busy people, this means Congress is doing its due diligence before ever spending real money or changing the recruitment system. The bill itself is just the first step in a very long policy process.