1st Lt. Hugh Conor McDowell Safety in Armed Forces Equipment Act of 2021
Bill: S.2975 | Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris (D-MD)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
1st Lt. Hugh Conor McDowell Safety in Armed Forces Equipment Act of 2021
This bill requires the Department of the Army and the Department of the Navy to jointly implement a five-year pilot program to evaluate the feasibility of using data recorders to monitor, assess, and improve the readiness and safety of the operation of military tactical vehicles (e.g., Army Strykers).
The program must be carried out at not fewer than one military station in the United States that (1) contains the necessary force structure, equipment, and maneuver training ranges to collect necessary driver and vehicle data; and (2) represents at least one of the five training ranges that did not track unit location during training, as identified by the Government Accountability Office.

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 Representatives 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''.

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 
readiness and safety of the operation of military tactical vehicles.
    (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 hazards and 
        potential hazards on and off military installations;
            (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 implementation of 
        military installation and unit-level range safety programs 
        across military installations and units;
            (7) to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating metrics 
        generated from data recorders into the safety 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 retrofitting 
        data recorders on legacy platforms and including data recorders 
        as a requirement in acquisition of military tactical vehicles; 
        and
            (9) any other matters as determined by the Secretary 
        concerned.
    (c) Requirements.--In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary 
of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy 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 military tactical vehicles listed under 
        subsection (f) at installations selected by the Secretary 
        concerned under subsection (e) for statistically significant 
        results;
            (5) establish and maintain a database that contains 
        telemetry data, driver data, and event data captured by the 
        data recorder;
            (6) regularly generate for each installation selected under 
        subsection (e) 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 installations selected under 
        subsection (e) to incorporate the actionable data sets and 
        statistics into the installation range safety program;
            (9) require unit commanders at the installations selected 
        under subsection (e) to incorporate the actionable data sets 
        and statistics into the unit driver safety program;
            (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 extent 
        practicable; and
            (12) carry out any other activities determined by the 
        Secretary as necessary to meet the purposes under subsection 
        (b).
    (d) Implementation Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary 
of the Navy shall develop a plan for implementing the pilot program.
    (e) Locations.--Each Secretary concerned shall carry out the pilot 
program at not fewer than one military installation in the United 
States selected by the Secretary concerned 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 training and routine operation.
            (2) Represents at a minimum one of the five training ranges 
        identified in the study by the Comptroller 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 vehicles:
            (1) Army Strykers.
            (2) Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles.
            (3) Army Medium Tactical Vehicles.
            (4) Marine Corps Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements.
    (g) Metrics.--The Secretaries shall develop metrics to evaluate the 
effectiveness of the pilot program 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, the Secretary of the Army and the 
        Secretary of the Navy shall jointly submit to the congressional 
        defense committees a report on the pilot program that addresses 
        the plan for implementing the requirements under subsection 
        (c), including the established metrics under subsection (g).
            (2) Interim.--Not later than three years after the 
        commencement of the pilot program, the Secretary of the Army 
        and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly submit to the 
        congressional defense committees a report on the status of the 
        pilot program, including the preliminary results in carrying 
        out the pilot program, the metrics generated during the pilot 
        program, disaggregated by military tactical vehicle, location, 
        and service, and the implementation plan under subsection (d).
            (3) Final.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the 
                termination of the pilot program, the Secretary of the 
                Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly submit 
                to the congressional defense committees a report on the 
                results of the program.
                    (B) Elements.--The report required by subparagraph 
                (A) shall--
                            (i) assess the effectiveness of the pilot 
                        program in meeting the purposes under 
                        subsection (b);
                            (ii) include the metrics generated during 
                        the pilot program, disaggregated by military 
                        tactical vehicle, location, and service;
                            (iii) 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;
                            (iv) provide a cost estimate for equipping 
                        legacy military tactical vehicles with data 
                        recorders;
                            (v) determine the instances in which data 
                        recorders should be a requirement in the 
                        acquisition of military tactical vehicles;
                            (vi) recommend whether the pilot program 
                        should be expanded or made into a program of 
                        record; and
                            (vii) recommend any statutory, regulatory, 
                        or policy changes required to support the 
                        purposes 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) Accident.--The term ``accident'' means a collision, 
        rollover, or other mishap involving a motor vehicle.
            (2) Congressional defense committees.--The term 
        ``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given that 
        term in section 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code.
            (3) Data recorder.--The term ``data recorder'' means 
        technologies installed in a motor vehicle to record driver 
        identification, telemetry data, and event data related to the 
        operation of the motor vehicle.
            (4) Driver identification.--The term ``driver 
        identification'' means data enabling the unique identification 
        of the driver operating a motor vehicle.
            (5) Event data.--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 location 
                with an increased potential for an accident; or
                    (D) a vehicle orientation with an increased 
                potential for an accident.
            (6) Secretary concerned.--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.
            (7) Telemetry data.--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 coordinate 
                system, including elevation.
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