On January 8, 2026, CSM (Ret) John Gipe, EANGUS Executive Director, joined with representatives from NGAUS, ROA and MOAA, as well as the bill’s sponsors, Representatives Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., Jack Bergman, R-Mich., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., to mark the introduction of H.R. 6976, the Duty Status Reform Act.
The bill would clarify an overly complex system by reducing the number of duty statuses from roughly 30 to four. The bill proposes creating four broad service categories: Contingency Duty, Training and Support, Reserve Component Duty and Remote Assignments. Contingency duty covers deployments for missions such as responding to a national emergency or a natural disaster. Training and support includes required training, administrative assignments and support to reserve units. Reserve component duty represents traditional partial-day reserve service. Remote assignments refer to online leaning and other virtual duties.
If passed and signed into law, as introduced, service members carrying out assignments within the same category will receive the same pay and benefits package.
EANGUS has been following this issue for many years and is pleased to see the introduction of the legislation. “This is a great step forward for the eight hundred thousand plus men and women of the Reserve Components,” Command Sergeant Major (retired) John D. Gipe, Executive Director of EANGUS “Duty Status Reform has been a topic of discussion and studies for over fifteen years. Finally, with the help of Representatives Cisneros and Bergman, this important modernization of the laws that support our Servicemembers and their Families is moving forward. Our Warriors will finally get the benefits they deserve for performing their service in uniform. The Soldiers and Airmen of the National Guard, along with their Reserve counterparts, are grateful to all who have had a hand in bringing this issue to the forefront.”