I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5108 
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 readi-
ness and safety of the operation of military tactical vehicles. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 27, 2021 
Mr. BROWN (for himself and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was 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. 
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 ‘‘1st Lt. Hugh Conor 
McDowell Safety in Armed Forces Equipment Act of 
2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR TACTICAL VEHICLE SAFETY 
DATA COLLECTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly carry 
out a pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of using 
data recorders to monitor, assess, and improve the readi-
ness and safety of the operation of military tactical vehi-
cles. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the pilot program 
are— 
(1) to allow for the automated identification of 
hazards and potential hazards on and off military 
installations; 
(2) to mitigate and increase awareness of haz-
ards and potential hazards on and off military in-
stallations; 
(3) to identify near-miss accidents; 
(4) to create a standardized record source for 
accident investigations; 
(5) to assess individual driver proficiency, risk, 
and readiness; 
(6) to increase consistency in the implementa-
tion of military installation and unit-level range safe-
ty programs across military installations and units; 
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(7) to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating 
metrics generated from data recorders into the safe-
ty reporting systems and to the Defense Readiness 
Reporting System as a measure of assessing safety 
risks, mitigations, and readiness; 
(8) to determine the costs and benefits of retro-
fitting data recorders on legacy platforms and in-
cluding data recorders as a requirement in acquisi-
tion of military tactical vehicles; and 
(9) any other matters as determined by the 
Secretary concerned. 
(c) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the pilot pro-
gram, the Secretaries shall— 
(1) assess the feasibility of using commercial 
technology, such as smartphones or technologies 
used by insurance companies, as a data recorder; 
(2) test and evaluate a minimum of two data 
recorders that meet the pilot program requirements; 
(3) select a data recorder capable of collecting 
and exporting the telemetry data, event data, and 
driver identification during operation and accidents; 
(4) install and maintain a data recorder on a 
sufficient number of each of the covered military 
tactical vehicles under subsection (f) at selected in-
stallations for statistically significant results; 
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(5) establish and maintain a database that con-
tains telemetry data, driver data, and event data 
captured by the data recorder; 
(6) regularly generate for each installation 
under the pilot program a dataset that is viewable 
in widely available mapping software of hazards and 
potential hazards based on telemetry data and event 
data captured by the data recorders; 
(7) generate actionable data sets and statistics 
on individual, vehicle, and military installation; 
(8) require commanders at the covered military 
installations to incorporate the actionable data sets 
and statistics into the installation range safety pro-
gram; 
(9) require unit commanders at the covered 
military installations to incorporate the actionable 
data sets and statistics into unit driver safety pro-
gram; 
(10) evaluate the feasibility of integrating data 
sets and statistics to improve driver certification and 
licensing based on data recorded and generated by 
the data recorders; 
(11) use open architecture to the maximum ex-
tent practicable; and 
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(12) any other activities determined by the Sec-
retary as necessary to meet the purposes under sub-
section (b). 
(d) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not later than 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secre-
taries shall develop a plan for implementing the pilot pro-
gram required under this section. 
(e) LOCATIONS.—Each Secretary concerned shall 
carry out the pilot program at not fewer than one military 
installation in the United States that meets the following 
conditions: 
(1) Contains the necessary force structure, 
equipment, and maneuver training ranges to collect 
driver and military tactical vehicle data during train-
ing and routine operation. 
(2) Represents at a minimum one of the five 
training ranges identified in the study by the Comp-
troller General of the United States titled ‘‘Army 
and Marine Corps Should Take Additional Actions 
to Mitigate and Prevent Training Accidents’’ that 
did not track unit location during the training 
events. 
(f) COVERED MILITARY TACTICAL VEHICLES.—The 
pilot program shall cover the following military tactical ve-
hicles: 
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(1) Army Strykers. 
(2) Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles. 
(3) Army Medium Tactical Vehicles. 
(4) Marine Corps Medium Tactical Vehicle Re-
placements. 
(g) METRICS.—The Secretaries shall develop metrics 
to evaluate the pilot program’s effectiveness in monitoring, 
assessing, and improving vehicle safety, driver readiness, 
and mitigation of risk. 
(h) REPORTS.— 
(1) INITIAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act under this section, 
the Secretaries shall jointly submit to the congres-
sional defense committees a report on the pilot pro-
gram, addressing the plan for implementing the re-
quirements in subsection (c), including the estab-
lished metrics under subsection (g). 
(2) INTERIM.—Not later than three years after 
the commencement of the pilot program, the Secre-
taries shall jointly submit to the congressional de-
fense committees a report on the status of the pilot 
program, including the preliminary results in car-
rying out the pilot program, the metrics generated 
during the pilot program, disaggregated by military 
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tactical vehicle, location, and service, and the imple-
mentation plan under subsection (d). 
(3) FINAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
termination of the pilot program, the Secretaries 
shall jointly submit to the congressional defense 
committees a report on the results of the program. 
The report shall— 
(A) assess the pilot program’s effectiveness 
in meeting the purposes under subsection (b); 
(B) include the metrics generated during 
the pilot program, disaggregated by military 
tactical vehicle, location, and service; 
(C) include the views of range personnel, 
unit commanders, and members of the Armed 
Forces involved in the pilot program on the 
level of effectiveness of the technology selected; 
(D) provide a cost estimate for equipping 
legacy military tactical vehicles with data re-
corders; 
(E) determine the instances in which data 
recorders should be a requirement in the acqui-
sition of military tactical vehicles; 
(F) recommend whether the pilot program 
should be expanded or made into a program of 
record; and 
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(G) recommend any statutory, regulatory, 
or policy changes required to support the pur-
poses under subsection (b). 
(i) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out the 
pilot program under subsection (a) shall terminate five 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘accident’’ means a collision, roll-
over, or other mishap involving a motor vehicle. 
(2) The term ‘‘data recorder’’ means tech-
nologies installed in a motor vehicle to record driver 
identification, telemetry data, and event data related 
to the operation of such motor vehicle. 
(3) The term ‘‘driver identification’’ means data 
enabling the unique identification of the driver oper-
ating the motor vehicle. 
(4) The term ‘‘event data’’ includes data related 
to— 
(A) the start and conclusion of each vehicle 
operation; 
(B) a vehicle accident; 
(C) a vehicle acceleration, velocity, or loca-
tion with an increased potential for an accident; 
or 
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(D) a vehicle orientation with an increased 
potential for an accident. 
(5) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 
(A) the Secretary of the Army with respect 
to matters concerning the Army; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Navy with respect 
to matters concerning the Navy and Marine 
Corps. 
(6) The term ‘‘telemetry data’’ includes— 
(A) time; 
(B) vehicle distance traveled; 
(C) vehicle acceleration and velocity; 
(D) vehicle orientation, including roll, 
pitch, and yaw; and 
(E) vehicle location in a geographic coordi-
nate system, including elevation. 
Æ 
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