Driver simulators in military vehicles

(a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The report of the Government Accountability Office titled Military Vehicles: Army and Marine Corps Should Take Additional Actions to Mitigate and Prevent Training Accidents (GAO-21-361) stated, Driver inattentiveness, lapses in supervision, and lack of training were among the most common causes of these accidents, according to GAO analysis of Army and Marine Corps data. (2) Such report further determined that the Army and Marine Corps, have not developed a well-defined process with performance criteria and measurable standards to train their tactical vehicle drivers from basic qualifications to proficiency in diverse driving conditions, such as driving at night or over varied terrain. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) acquisition program baseline budget requests submitted in the budget submission of the President for manned military ground vehicles should include funding specifically allocated to the development, procurement, fielding, and sustainment of driver training simulators with sufficient fidelity to provide accurate visual, auditory, haptic, tactile, and vestibular stimulation to the trainee learning to operate the vehicle; and (2) driver training simulators should be— (A) incorporated into the lifecycle support for ground vehicles and should adequately simulate all of the environmental conditions in which drivers will be required to operate military ground vehicles in support of the tactical concept of employment of those vehicles; (B) available for both initial entry level driver training and for periodic sustainment training of military vehicle drivers; and (C) available for each vehicle type in sufficient enough numbers at each military installation to support driver training for the number of licensed drivers at the installation until such vehicle type is removed from service. (c) Report to Congress Not later than March 1, 2026, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly submit to the congressional defense committees a report containing an assessment of fielded military vehicle programs for which no driver simulator has been fielded to support the vehicle fleet. Such report shall include an updated cost analysis requirement document that includes necessary programming for driver simulators and a phasing plan for the procurement and fielding of driver simulators.

(a) Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) The report of the Government Accountability Office titled Military Vehicles: Army and Marine Corps Should Take Additional Actions to Mitigate and Prevent Training Accidents (GAO-21-361) stated, Driver inattentiveness, lapses in supervision, and lack of training were among the most common causes of these accidents, according to GAO analysis of Army and Marine Corps data. (2) Such report further determined that the Army and Marine Corps, have not developed a well-defined process with performance criteria and measurable standards to train their tactical vehicle drivers from basic qualifications to proficiency in diverse driving conditions, such as driving at night or over varied terrain. (b) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (1) acquisition program baseline budget requests submitted in the budget submission of the President for manned military ground vehicles should include funding specifically allocated to the development, procurement, fielding, and sustainment of driver training simulators with sufficient fidelity to provide accurate visual, auditory, haptic, tactile, and vestibular stimulation to the trainee learning to operate the vehicle; and (2) driver training simulators should be— (A) incorporated into the lifecycle support for ground vehicles and should adequately simulate all of the environmental conditions in which drivers will be required to operate military ground vehicles in support of the tactical concept of employment of those vehicles; (B) available for both initial entry level driver training and for periodic sustainment training of military vehicle drivers; and (C) available for each vehicle type in sufficient enough numbers at each military installation to support driver training for the number of licensed drivers at the installation until such vehicle type is removed from service. (c) Report to Congress Not later than March 1, 2026, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy shall jointly submit to the congressional defense committees a report containing an assessment of fielded military vehicle programs for which no driver simulator has been fielded to support the vehicle fleet. Such report shall include an updated cost analysis requirement document that includes necessary programming for driver simulators and a phasing plan for the procurement and fielding of driver simulators.