; and (ii) appoint individuals to not more than 12 positions as program managers in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. (B) Term extension The Deputy Chief may extend the period which an employee appointed pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) may serve by up to seven additional years. (C) Excepted service positions Each position to which the Deputy Chief may appoint an individual pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) shall be in the excepted service. (c) Coordination The officials referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) shall coordinate and align their plans and activities to implement subsection (a) among themselves and with the combatant commanders. (d) Initial prioritization In developing an initial set of capabilities described in subsection (a), the officials referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of that subsection shall prioritize the requirements of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. (e) Briefings required Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter through December 31, 2026, the officials referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subsection (a) shall provide briefings to the congressional defense committees on their plans and activities to implement subsection (a). (f) Report required Not later than March 1, 2024, the Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer, in consultation with the Deputy Chief and the Executive Director for Acquisition, Integration, and Interoperability of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that includes— (1) a plan and associated timelines for deploying and demonstrating a joint data integration layer prototype in the United States Indo-Pacific Command area of operations