Manatee Review

WASHINGTON - In a unanimous vote, the U.S. House has passed three proposals put forward by Congressman Vern Buchanan to enhance the safety of American service members and address recruitment challenges in the military. These amendments, which received broad bipartisan support, aim to ensure the U.S. military remains the world's leading fighting force. Congressman Buchanan expressed his satisfaction with the House's decision and pledged to work towards enacting these proposals into law.

According to Congressman Buchanan, "These three proposals will help ensure the safety of America’s service members and improve military readiness and recruitment issues. I’m pleased to see the House pass my amendments with broad bipartisan support and will work to see them enacted into law. We need to do everything we can to protect our brave service members and encourage the enlistment of future soldiers to ensure the U.S. military remains the world’s preeminent fighting force."

The first proposal focuses on allocating $3 million from the Army Operations and Maintenance budget to ensure that foreign army bases have adequately stocked ambulances and MedEvac helicopters. This initiative aims to improve emergency response capabilities at these bases.

The second proposal seeks to allocate $1 million defense-wide to combat future military training accidents and research preventive measures. The objective is to reform existing military training procedures and reduce accidents. This proposal was prompted by the unfortunate death of Army Specialist Panipinto during a training accident at Camp Humphreys in South Korea in 2019. Investigative reports revealed several safety and training failures that contributed to the tragic incident.

Lastly, the third proposal seeks to allocate $1 million to the Army Operations and Management budget to bolster the Future Soldier Prep Course program. This initiative, established at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in August 2022, aims to assist individuals who wish to enlist in the active-duty Army, Army Reserves, and National Guard by helping them overcome academic and physical barriers to service.

Highlighting the importance of the Future Soldier Prep Course program, Congressman Buchanan referred to a Department of Defense study that found 80 percent of Americans between the ages of 17 to 24 unfit for military service due to physical and mental health issues, including being overweight. The program has achieved remarkable success, with a 95 percent completion rate and 10,260 recruits attending the prep course and proceeding to basic training by the end of August 2023. This program has also been expanded to Fort Moore, Georgia.

It is worth noting that the Army faced recruitment challenges in Fiscal Year 2022, enlisting only 45,000 new soldiers, falling 15,000 short of its recruitment goal of 60,000 soldiers.

Congressman Buchanan has been a vocal advocate for military safety and has previously introduced proposals aimed at assisting survivors of domestic abuse, increasing troop access to mental health care, preventing military training accidents, and combating prescription drug abuse and veteran overdoses.

For more information about Congressman Vern Buchanan's proposals, please visit: https://buchanan.house.gov/2023/9/u-s-house-passes-three-buchanan-proposals