(a) Program Required.—The Secretary of Defense shall carry out a program to provide supplemental foods and nutrition education to members of the armed forces on duty at stations outside the United States (and its territories and possessions) and to eligible civilians serving with, employed by, or accompanying the armed forces outside the United States (and its territories and possessions).

(b) Funding Mechanism.—The Secretary of Defense shall use funds available for the Department of Defense to carry out the program under subsection (a).

(c) Program Administration.—(1)(A) The Secretary of Defense shall administer the program referred to in subsection (a) and, except as provided in subparagraph (B), shall determine eligibility for program benefits under the criterion published by the Secretary of Agriculture under section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786). In determining eligibility for benefits, a person already certified for participation in the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children under such section 17 shall be considered eligible for the duration of the certification period under that special supplemental nutrition program.

(B) In determining eligibility for families of individuals participating in the program under this section, the Secretary of Defense shall, to the extent practicable, use the criterion described in subparagraph (A), including nutritional risk standards. In the application of such criterion, the Secretary shall exclude from income any basic allowance for housing as permitted under section 17(d)(2)(B) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(d)(2)(B)).

(2) The program benefits provided under the program shall be similar to benefits provided by State and local agencies in the United States, particularly with respect to nutrition education.

(3) The Secretary of Agriculture shall provide technical assistance to the Secretary of Defense, if so requested by the Secretary of Defense, for the purpose of carrying out the program under subsection (a).

(d) Departure From Standards.—The Secretary of Defense may authorize departures from standards prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the supplemental foods to be made available in the program when local conditions preclude strict compliance or when such compliance is highly impracticable.

(e) Rebate Agreements With Food Producers.—(1) In the administration of the program under this section, the Secretary of Defense may enter into a contract with a producer of a particular brand of food that provides for—

(A) the Secretary of Defense to procure that particular brand of food, exclusive of other brands of the same or similar food, for the purpose of providing the food in commissary stores or Navy Exchange Markets of the Department of Defense as a supplemental food under the program; and

(B) the producer to rebate to the Secretary amounts equal to agreed portions of the amounts paid by the Secretary for the procurement of that particular brand of food for the program.

(2) The Secretary of Defense shall use competitive procedures under chapter 137 ¹ of this title to enter into contracts under this subsection.

(3) The period covered by a contract entered into under this subsection, including any period of extension of the contract by modification of the contract, exercise of an option, or other cause, may not exceed three years. No such contract may be extended by a modification of the contract, by exercise of an option, or by any other means. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits a contractor under a contract entered into under this subsection for any year from submitting an offer for, and being awarded, a contract that is to be entered into under this subsection for a successive year.

(4) Amounts rebated under a contract entered into under paragraph (1) shall be credited to the appropriation available for carrying out the program under this section in the fiscal year in which rebated, shall be merged with the other sums in that appropriation, and shall be available for the program for the same period as the other sums in the appropriation.

(f) Regulations.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to administer the program authorized by this section.

(g) Definitions.—In this section:

(1) The term “eligible civilian” means—

(A) a dependent of a member of the armed forces residing with the member outside the United States;

(B) an employee of a military department who is a national of the United States and is residing outside the United States in connection with such individual‘s employment or a dependent of such individual residing with the employee outside the United States; or

(C) an employee of a Department of Defense contractor who is a national of the United States and is residing outside the United States in connection with such individual’s employment or a dependent of such individual residing with the employee outside the United States.

(2) The term “national of the United States” means—

(A) a citizen of the United States; or

(B) a person who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States, as determined in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).

(3) The term “dependent” has the meaning given such term in subparagraphs (A), (D), (E), and (I) of section 1072(2) of this title.

(4) The terms “nutrition education” and “supplemental foods” have the meanings given the terms in section 17(b) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786(b)).