I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5491 
To improve the fielding of newest generations of personal protective equipment 
to the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2019 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. KELLY of 
Mississippi, Mr. STIVERS, Ms. STEFANIK, and Mrs. LURIA) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Serv-
ices 
A BILL 
To improve the fielding of newest generations of personal 
protective equipment to the Armed Forces, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Body Armor for Fe-
males Modernization Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
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(1) Ill-fitting personal protective equipment 
(PPE) for members of the Armed Forces impedes 
performance and lethality by reducing range of mo-
tion, speed, and agility, and can interfere with the 
aim of shoulder-braced weapons. 
(2) Access to female-specific personal protective 
equipment, or smaller-sized unisex personal protec-
tive equipment, has traditionally been limited. Such 
equipment has typically been provided only to some 
deploying members of the Armed Forces, but not to 
those going through initial entry training (IET), or 
for regular unit training events. 
(3) Members of the Armed Force need to be fa-
miliarized with and train in their combat gear before 
deploying in order to be fully prepared and mission 
capable. 
(4) Research shows that poorly fitting personal 
protective equipment is a leading cause of prevent-
able injury for all members of the Armed Forces, 
whether deployed or in training. 
(5) Studies on operational physical performance 
and fitness in female members of the Armed Forces 
suggest that the best way to decrease the likelihood 
of injury is through consistent physical training with 
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equipment that mirrors that which is used in a com-
bat environment. 
(6) Properly fitting personal protective equip-
ment for training and deployment will assist in the 
gender-integration process in the Armed Forces as 
well as improve overall combat effectiveness, while 
simultaneously bringing about a reduction in inju-
ries. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress— 
(1) that committed resources for new genera-
tion personal protective equipment for female 
warfighters is essential to their warfighting readi-
ness; 
(2) to encourage the Armed Forces to expedite 
contracting for and procurement and fielding of new 
generation personal protective equipment that better 
fits and protects all members of the Armed Forces, 
including female members, and reduces preventable 
injuries; and 
(3) to encourage collaboration between the 
Armed Forces, academia, and industry on the use of 
emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence 
(AI), human factors modeling, and digital predictive 
human modeling, in the development of next genera-
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tion of combat equipment and personal protective 
equipment. 
SEC. 3. REPORTS ON FIELDING OF NEWEST GENERATIONS 
OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT TO 
THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than January 
31, 2021, each Secretary of a military department shall 
submit to Congress a report on the fielding of the newest 
generations of personal protective equipment to the Armed 
Forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretary. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 
shall include, for each Armed Force covered by such re-
port, the following: 
(1) A description and assessment of the fielding 
of newest generations of personal protective equip-
ment and auxiliary personal protective equipment to 
members of such Armed Force, including the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The number (aggregated by total num-
ber and by sex) of members of such Armed 
Force issued the Army Soldiers Protective Sys-
tem and the Modular Scalable Vest Generation 
II body armor as of December 31, 2020. 
(B) The number (aggregated by total num-
ber and by sex) of members of such Armed 
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Force issued Marine Corps Plate Carrier Gen-
eration III (PC Gen III) body armor as of that 
date. 
(C) The number (aggregated by total num-
ber and by sex) of members of such Armed 
Force fitted with legacy personal protective 
equipment as of that date. 
(2) A description and assessment of the bar-
riers, if any, to the fielding of such generations of 
equipment to such members. 
(3) A description and assessment of challenges 
in the fielding of such generations of equipment to 
such members, including cost overruns, contractor 
delays, and other challenges. 
SEC. 4. SYSTEM FOR TRACKING DATA ON INJURIES AMONG 
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES IN THE 
USE OF NEWEST GENERATION PERSONAL 
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. 
(a) SYSTEM REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Defense 
Health Agency (DHA) shall develop and maintain a 
system for tracking data on injuries among members 
of the Armed Forces in and during the use of newest 
generation personal protective equipment. 
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(2) SCOPE OF SYSTEM.—The system required 
by this subsection may, at the election of the Direc-
tor, be new for purposes of this subsection or within 
or a modification of an appropriate existing system 
(such as the Defense Occupational And Environ-
mental Health Readiness System (DOEHRS)). 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than January 31, 2025, the 
Director shall submit to Congress a report on the preva-
lence among members of the Armed Forces of preventable 
injuries attributable to ill-fitting or malfunctioning per-
sonal protective equipment. 
SEC. 5. INCLUSION IN ANNUAL PERIODIC HEALTH ASSESS-
MENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 
OF QUESTIONS ON INJURIES INCURRED IN 
CONNECTION WITH ILL-FITTING OR MAL-
FUNCTIONING 
PERSONAL 
PROTECTIVE 
EQUIPMENT. 
The annual Periodic Health Assessment (PHA) of 
members of the Armed Forces undertaken after the date 
of the enactment of this Act shall include one or more 
questions on whether members incurred an injury in con-
nection with ill-fitting or malfunctioning personal protec-
tive equipment during the period covered by such assess-
ment, including the nature of such injury. 
Æ 
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