,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bigj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #c1  
#bjai,ms4 ,ernst 7for herself1 ,ms4     
,duckworth1 ,ms4 ,mc,sally1 and ,mr4    
,blumenthal7 introduced the following   
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,armed ,services   
,a ,,bill  ,to improve the fielding of  
newest generations of personal          
protective equipment to the ,armed      
,forces1 and for other purposes4  #a4   
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,female ,body ,armor ,modernization 
,act of #bjai 4  #b4 ,findings and sense
 of ,congress  7a7 ,findings ,congress  
makes the following findings3 7#a7      
,ill-fitting personal protective        
equipment 7,,ppe7 for members of the    
,armed ,forces impedes performance and  
lethality by reducing range of motion1  
speed1 and agility1 and can interfere   
with the aim of shoulder-braced weapons4
  7#b7 ,access to female-specific       
personal protective equipment1 or       

smaller sized unisex personal protective
 equipment1 has traditionally been      
limited4 ,such equipment has typically  
been provided only to some deploying    
members of the ,armed ,forces1 but not  
to those going through initial entry    
training 7,,iet71 or for regular unit   
training events4  7#c7 ,members of the  
,armed ,force need to be familiarized   
with and train in their combat gear     
before deploying in order to be fully   
prepared and mission capable4  7#d7     
,research shows that poorly fitting     
personal protective equipment is a      
leading cause of preventable injury for 
all members of the ,armed ,forces1      
whether deployed or in training4  7#e7  
,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       
equipment that mirrors that which is    
used in a combat environment4  7#f7     

,properly fitting personal protective   
equipment for training and deployment   
will assist in the gender-integration   
process in the ,armed ,forces as well as
 improve overall combat effectiveness1  
while simultaneously bringing about a   
reduction in injuries4  7b7 ,sense of   
,congress ,it is the sense of           
,congress-- 7#a7 that committed         
resources for new generation personal   
protective equipment for female         
warfighters is essential to their       
warfighting readiness2  7#b7 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  
,forces1 including female members1 and  
reduces preventable injuries2 and  7#c7 
to encourage collaboration between the  
,armed ,forces1 academia1 and industry  
on the use of emerging technologies1    
such as ,artificial ,intelligence       
7,,ai71 human factors modeling1 and     

digital predictive human modeling1 in   
the development of next generation of   
combat equipment and personal protective
 equipment4  #c4 ,reports on fielding of
 newest generations of personal         
protective equipment to the ,armed      
,forces  7a7 ,reports required ,not     
later than ,january #ca1 #bjba1 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 ,secretary4  7b7 ,elements ,each  
report under subsection 7a7 shall       
include1 for each ,armed ,force covered 
by such report1 the following3  7#a7 ,a 
description and assessment of the       
fielding of newest generations of       
personal protective equipment to members
 of such ,armed ,force1 including the   
following3  7,a7 ,the number 7aggregated
 by total number and by sex7 of members 
of such ,armed ,force issued the ,army  
,soldiers ,protective ,system and the   

,modular ,scalable ,vest ,generation    
,,ii body armor as of ,december #ca1    
#bjbj4  7,b7 ,the number 7aggregated by 
total number and by sex7 of members of  
such ,armed ,force issued ,marine ,corps
 ,plate ,carrier ,generation ,,iii 7,,pc
 ,gen ,,iii7 body armor as of that date4
  7,c7 ,the number 7aggregated by total 
number and by sex7 of members of such   
,armed ,force fitted with legacy        
personal protective equipment as of that
 date4  7#b7 ,a description and         
assessment of the barriers1 if any1 to  
the fielding of such generations of     
equipment to such members4  7#c7 ,a     
description and assessment of challenges
 in the fielding of such generations of 
equipment to such members1 including    
cost overruns1 contractor delays1 and   
other challenges4  #d4 ,system for      
tracking data on injuries among members 
of the ,armed ,forces in the use of     
newest generation personal protective   
equipment  7a7 ,system required  7#a7   
,in general ,the ,director of the       

,defense ,health ,agency 7,,dha7 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 equipment4  7#b7 ,scope of   
system ,the system required by this     
subsection may1 at the election of the  
,director1 be new for purposes of this  
subsection or within or a modification  
of an appropriate existing system 7such 
as the ,defense ,occupational ,and      
,environmental ,health ,readiness       
,system 7,,doehrs774  7b7 ,report ,not  
later than ,january #ca1 #bjbe1 the     
,director shall submit to ,congress a   
report on the prevalence among members  
of the ,armed ,forces of preventable    
injuries attributable to ill-fitting or 
malfunctioning personal protective      
equipment4  #e4 ,inclusion in annual    
,periodic ,health ,assessments of       
members of the ,armed ,forces of        
questions on injuries incurred in       
connection with ill-fitting or          

malfunctioning personal protective      
equipment ,the annual ,periodic ,health 
,assessment 7,,pha7 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          
connection with ill-fitting or          
malfunctioning personal protective      
equipment during the period covered by  
such assessment1 including the nature of
 such injury4