II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2975 

To direct the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy to 

carry out a pilot program on using data recorders to improve the readiness and safety of the operation of military tactical vehicles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 7, 2021 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of 

the Navy to carry out a pilot program on using data 

recorders to improve the readiness and safety of the 

operation of military tactical vehicles. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘1st Lt. Hugh Conor 

5 McDowell Safety in Armed Forces Equipment Act of 

6 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR TACTICAL VEHICLE SAFETY 

2 DATA COLLECTION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

5 Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly carry 

6 out a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of using 

7 data recorders to monitor, assess, and improve the readi8 ness and safety of the operation of military tactical vehi9 cles. 

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pilot program 

11 are— 

12 (1) to allow for the automated identification of 

13 hazards and potential hazards on and off military 

14 installations; 

15 (2) to mitigate and increase awareness of haz16 ards and potential hazards on and off military in17 stallations; 

18 (3) to identify near-miss accidents; 

19 (4) to create a standardized record source for 

20 accident investigations; 

21 (5) to assess individual driver proficiency, risk, 

22 and readiness; 

23 (6) to increase consistency in the implementa24 tion of military installation and unit-level range safe25 ty programs across military installations and units; 


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1 (7) to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating 

2 metrics generated from data recorders into the safe3 ty reporting systems and to the Defense Readiness 

4 Reporting System as a measure of assessing safety 

5 risks, mitigations, and readiness; 

6 (8) to determine the costs and benefits of retro7 fitting data recorders on legacy platforms and in8 cluding data recorders as a requirement in acquisi9 tion of military tactical vehicles; and 

10 (9) any other matters as determined by the 

11 Secretary concerned. 

12 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the pilot pro13 gram, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the 

14 Navy shall— 

15 (1) assess the feasibility of using commercial 

16 technology, such as smartphones or technologies 

17 used by insurance companies, as a data recorder; 

18 (2) test and evaluate a minimum of two data 

19 recorders that meet the pilot program requirements; 

20 (3) select a data recorder capable of collecting 

21 and exporting the telemetry data, event data, and 

22 driver identification during operation and accidents; 

23 (4) install and maintain a data recorder on a 

24 sufficient number of each of the military tactical ve25 hicles listed under subsection (f) at installations seVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Oct 09, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2975.IS S2975

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1 lected by the Secretary concerned under subsection 

2 (e) for statistically significant results; 

3 (5) establish and maintain a database that con4 tains telemetry data, driver data, and event data 

5 captured by the data recorder; 

6 (6) regularly generate for each installation se7 lected under subsection (e) a dataset that is viewable 

8 in widely available mapping software of hazards and 

9 potential hazards based on telemetry data and event 

10 data captured by the data recorders; 

11 (7) generate actionable data sets and statistics 

12 on individual, vehicle, and military installation; 

13 (8) require commanders at the installations se14 lected under subsection (e) to incorporate the action15 able data sets and statistics into the installation 

16 range safety program; 

17 (9) require unit commanders at the installations 

18 selected under subsection (e) to incorporate the ac19 tionable data sets and statistics into the unit driver 

20 safety program; 

21 (10) evaluate the feasibility of integrating data 

22 sets and statistics to improve driver certification and 

23 licensing based on data recorded and generated by 

24 the data recorders; 


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1 (11) use open architecture to the maximum ex2 tent practicable; and 

3 (12) carry out any other activities determined 

4 by the Secretary as necessary to meet the purposes 

5 under subsection (b). 

6 (d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec8 retary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall 

9 develop a plan for implementing the pilot program. 

10 (e) LOCATIONS.—Each Secretary concerned shall 

11 carry out the pilot program at not fewer than one military 

12 installation in the United States selected by the Secretary 

13 concerned that meets the following conditions: 

14 (1) Contains the necessary force structure, 

15 equipment, and maneuver training ranges to collect 

16 driver and military tactical vehicle data during train17 ing and routine operation. 

18 (2) Represents at a minimum one of the five 

19 training ranges identified in the study by the Comp20 troller General of the United States titled ‘‘Army 

21 and Marine Corps Should Take Additional Actions 

22 to Mitigate and Prevent Training Accidents’’ that 

23 did not track unit location during the training 

24 events. 


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1 (f) COVERED MILITARY TACTICAL VEHICLES.—The 

2 pilot program shall cover the following military tactical ve3 hicles: 

4 (1) Army Strykers. 

5 (2) Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles. 

6 (3) Army Medium Tactical Vehicles. 

7 (4) Marine Corps Medium Tactical Vehicle Re8 placements. 

9 (g) METRICS.—The Secretaries shall develop metrics 

10 to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program in moni11 toring, assessing, and improving vehicle safety, driver 

12 readiness, and mitigation of risk. 

13 (h) REPORTS.— 

14 (1) INITIAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

16 the Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly 

17 submit to the congressional defense committees a re18 port on the pilot program that addresses the plan 

19 for implementing the requirements under subsection 

20 (c), including the established metrics under sub21 section (g). 

22 (2) INTERIM.—Not later than three years after 

23 the commencement of the pilot program, the Sec24 retary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy 

25 shall jointly submit to the congressional defense 


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1 committees a report on the status of the pilot pro2 gram, including the preliminary results in carrying 

3 out the pilot program, the metrics generated during 

4 the pilot program, disaggregated by military tactical 

5 vehicle, location, and service, and the implementa6 tion plan under subsection (d). 

7 (3) FINAL.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

9 after the termination of the pilot program, the 

10 Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the 

11 Navy shall jointly submit to the congressional 

12 defense committees a report on the results of 

13 the program. 

14 (B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

15 subparagraph (A) shall— 

16 (i) assess the effectiveness of the pilot 

17 program in meeting the purposes under 

18 subsection (b); 

19 (ii) include the metrics generated dur20 ing the pilot program, disaggregated by 

21 military tactical vehicle, location, and serv22 ice; 

23 (iii) include the views of range per24 sonnel, unit commanders, and members of 

25 the Armed Forces involved in the pilot proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:36 Oct 09, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2975.IS S2975

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1 gram on the level of effectiveness of the 

2 technology selected; 

3 (iv) provide a cost estimate for equip4 ping legacy military tactical vehicles with 

5 data recorders; 

6 (v) determine the instances in which 

7 data recorders should be a requirement in 

8 the acquisition of military tactical vehicles; 

9 (vi) recommend whether the pilot pro10 gram should be expanded or made into a 

11 program of record; and 

12 (vii) recommend any statutory, regu13 latory, or policy changes required to sup14 port the purposes under subsection (b). 

15 (i) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out the 

16 pilot program under subsection (a) shall terminate five 

17 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ACCIDENT.—The term ‘‘accident’’ means a 

20 collision, rollover, or other mishap involving a motor 

21 vehicle. 

22 (2) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 

23 The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 

24 the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(16) 

25 of title 10, United States Code. 


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1 (3) DATA RECORDER.—The term ‘‘data re2 corder’’ means technologies installed in a motor ve3 hicle to record driver identification, telemetry data, 

4 and event data related to the operation of the motor 

5 vehicle. 

6 (4) DRIVER IDENTIFICATION.—The term ‘‘driv7 er identification’’ means data enabling the unique 

8 identification of the driver operating a motor vehicle. 

9 (5) EVENT DATA.—The term ‘‘event data’’ in10 cludes data related to— 

11 (A) the start and conclusion of each vehicle 

12 operation; 

13 (B) a vehicle accident; 

14 (C) a vehicle acceleration, velocity, or loca15 tion with an increased potential for an accident; 

16 or 

17 (D) a vehicle orientation with an increased 

18 potential for an accident. 

19 (6) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec20 retary concerned’’ means— 

21 (A) the Secretary of the Army with respect 

22 to matters concerning the Army; and 

23 (B) the Secretary of the Navy with respect 

24 to matters concerning the Navy and Marine 

25 Corps. 


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1 (7) TELEMETRY DATA.—The term ‘‘telemetry 

2 data’’ includes— 

3 (A) time; 

4 (B) vehicle distance traveled; 

5 (C) vehicle acceleration and velocity; 

6 (D) vehicle orientation, including roll, 

7 pitch, and yaw; and 

8 (E) vehicle location in a geographic coordi9 nate system, including elevation. 

Æ 


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