'Common sense': Bipartisan push for better-fitting female body armor for troops

Two bipartisan bills in the House and the Senate would improve the fit of body armor for female troops and require a report on injuries from poorly fitting armor.

The legislation is in response to reports that there is an increased need for personal protective equipment for women in the armed forces, according to Military.com.

A 2018 report from the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services found that the supply of “servicewomen continue to lack accessibility to this new equipment for both training and deployment.”

“Now that all military occupations have been opened to women, there is an increased need for female-appropriate personal protective equipment and combat gear,” the report continued.

The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Joni Ernst, has eight co-sponsors — three Republicans and five Democrats.

“The growing bipartisan support for this legislation demonstrates just how important and common sense it is,” said the Republican from Iowa.

The accompanying House bill is sponsored by Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina and also has three Republican and five Democratic co-sponsors.

Wilson told the Washington Examiner on Friday that female troops "deserve the proper-fitting personal protective equipment from the day they enter the military."

"This bill will expedite the procuring and fielding of new generation equipment that better protects females," Wilson said. "I'm thankful to work to reduce injuries to all of our brave service members by ensuring they have the right equipment from day one."

Both bills would require additional studies on better-fitting armor and call for the Defense Health Agency to track data on injuries from the armor, a problem that then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford addressed before Congress in 2018.

“We knew in 2016 that the standard equipment, particularly as women began to occupy fields where they hadn't historically been, and they were wearing combat armor, packs, those kinds of things [that] had been built for the average male and not the average female, that we would have to adjust that,” Dunford said.