§ 204.
(b)
Assimilating Reserve Corps officers into the Regular Corps
Effective on March 23, 2010, all individuals classified as officers in the Reserve Corps under this section (as such section existed on the day before March 23, 2010) and serving on active duty shall be deemed to be commissioned officers of the Regular Corps.
(c)
Purpose and use of Ready Reserve Corps
(1)
Purpose
The purpose of the Ready Reserve Corps is to fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both routine public health and emergency response missions during public health or national emergencies.
(2)
Uses
The Ready Reserve Corps shall, consistent with paragraph (1)—
(A)
participate in routine training to meet the general and specific needs of the Commissioned Corps;
(B)
be available and ready for involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises, similar to the uniformed service reserve personnel;
(C)
be available for backfilling critical positions left vacant during deployment of active duty Commissioned Corps members during such emergencies, as well as for deployment to respond to public health emergencies, both foreign and domestic; and
(D)
be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved communities (as defined in
section 295p of this title) to improve access to health services, consistent with subparagraph (C).
(3)
Statutory references to reserve
A reference in any Federal statute, except in the case of subsection (b), to the “Reserve Corps” of the Public Health Service or to the “reserve” of the Public Health Service shall be deemed to be a reference to the Ready Reserve Corps.
(d)
Funding
For the purpose of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Commissioned Corps under this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for recruitment and training and $12,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014 for the Ready Reserve Corps.
([July 1, 1944, ch. 373], title II, § 203, [58 Stat. 683]; [Feb. 28, 1948, ch. 83, § 2], [62 Stat. 39]; [Oct. 28, 1949, ch. 782], title XI, § 1106(a), [63 Stat. 972]; [Pub. L. 96–76, title III, § 302(a)], Sept. 29, 1979, [93 Stat. 584]; [Pub. L. 111–148, title V, § 5210], Mar. 23, 2010, [124 Stat. 614]; [Pub. L. 112–166, § 2(ff)(1)], Aug. 10, 2012, [126 Stat. 1290]; [Pub. L. 116–136, div. A, title III, § 3214(a)], Mar. 27, 2020, [134 Stat. 372].)