; (2) assist that individual in meeting the expenses of treatment of medical or psychological disabilities of that individual; and (3) provide financial support to that individual during periods of unemployment. (b) Conditions Assistance may be provided to a qualified former Space Force employee under subsection (a) only if the Secretary determines that such assistance is essential to— (1) maintain the judgment and emotional stability of the qualified former Space Force employee; and (2) avoid circumstances that might lead to the unlawful disclosure of classified information to which the qualified former Space Force employee had access. (c) Duration of assistance Assistance may not be provided under this section in the case of any individual after the end of the five-year period beginning on the date of the termination of the employment of the individual in a Space Force position. (d) Qualified former space force employee defined In this section, the term qualified former Space Force employee means an individual who was employed in a Space Force position— (1) who has been found to be ineligible for continued access to information designated as Sensitive Compartmented Information and employment in the Space Force; or (2) whose employment in a Space Force position has been terminated. 9387. Appointment of Space Force employees to competitive service positions in the Department of Defense (a) Authority Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense may appoint an employee serving in a Space Force position in the excepted service to a position in the Department of Defense in the competitive service without competition. (b) Conditions The Secretary may only exercise the authority under subsection (a) if— (1) the employee concerned has served continuously for at least two years in a Space Force position that is not time-limited under an excepted appointment or has been involuntarily separated from such position without personal cause within the preceding 12 months