; (2) direct the applicable services to take all necessary and appropriate actions to pay for Transportation Worker Identification Credential cards for members of the uniformed services on active duty or separated members of the uniformed services pursuing or possessing a mariner credential; (3) ensure that members of the applicable services who are to be discharged or released from active duty and who request certification or verification of sea service be provided such certification or verification no later than one month after discharge or release; (4) ensure the applicable services have developed, or continue to operate, as appropriate, the online resource known as Credentialing Opportunities On-Line to support separating members of the uniformed services who are seeking information and assistance on merchant mariner credentialing; and (5) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, take all necessary and appropriate actions to apply service-related medical certifications to merchant mariner credential requirements. (d) Advancing military to mariner within the employer agencies (1) In general The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall have direct hiring authority to employ separated members of the uniformed services with valid merchant mariner licenses or sea service experience in support of United States national maritime needs, including the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (e) Separated member of the uniformed services In this section, the term separated member of the uniformed services means an individual who— (1) is retiring or is retired as a member of the uniformed services; (2) is voluntarily separating or voluntarily separated from the uniformed services at the end of enlistment or service obligation