WASHINGTON – Following a shocking new report from the federal government’s top watchdog office, Congressman Vern Buchanan today called on the Secretary of Defense to immediately adopt a series of new recommendations to reform military training procedures.
A report released Wednesday from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which investigated tactical vehicle accidents outside of combat, found that a lack of driver training and failures to properly oversee and implement key safety procedures were largely to blame.
Buchanan has been a leading advocate in Congress for military training reforms and improved emergency response capabilities after the tragic death of Army Specialist Nicholas Panipinto of Bradenton. Panipinto died in a vehicle training accident in South Korea in 2019.
“The heartbreaking death of my constituent, Nicholas Panipinto, was 100 percent preventable,” said Buchanan. “As evidenced by this shocking new report, there are glaring and widespread deficiencies in current military training and safety procedures. We must take swift action to improve our military training capabilities and, more importantly, save lives. No family deserves to face the pain and suffering that Nick’s family has faced.”
The GAO made nine recommendations to the Department of Defense, including that the Army and Marine Corps more clearly define roles and establish procedures and mechanisms to help supervisors enhance tactical vehicle safety and develop performance criteria and measurable standards for driver training programs.
“It is imperative that the Pentagon adopt these new commonsense proposals in a timely manner. In the meantime, I will be drafting legislation requiring their enactment in order to ensure no more lives are needlessly lost,” said Buchanan.
According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, between 2006 and 2018 a staggering 32 percent of active-duty military deaths were the result of training accidents. During that same time period, only 16 percent of service members were killed in action. And in 2017 alone, nearly four times as many service members died in training accidents than were killed in action.
Last year, Buchanan offered an amendment to the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act which was successfully signed into law. His amendment required the Department of Defense (DoD) to examine emergency response capabilities and services currently available at U.S. military bases around the world and to report to Congress on the potential benefits and feasibility of requiring bases to have properly functioning MedEvac helicopters and fully-stocked military ambulances.
According to Panipinto’s mother, Kimberly Weaver, Panipinto did not have a license, the required amount of driver training or any classroom instruction before beginning his road-test.
In fact, according to sworn testimony from his unit’s master driver, who’s responsible for training troops on vehicles and administering licenses, their unit’s driver training program was “nonexistent.” The unnamed individual went on to state that “When I took over the program there was nothing, I had no paperwork for any soldiers with licenses. Soldiers came up to me and informed me that the previous master driver just gave them licenses without a 40-hour block of instruction.”
Kimberly Weaver said, “The devastating loss of Nicholas was compounded by the fact that it was totally preventable. We are forever grateful to Congressman Buchanan for continuing to push for necessary military training reforms to protect service members and prevent another tragic loss.”
In 2019, Buchanan called on the House Armed Services Committee to hold a public hearing on military training accidents. Buchanan also sent a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper proposing a number of changes to the military’s current training and safety protocols to prevent future deaths.
You can read the full text of the letter below.
Dear Secretary Austin:
Over the past decade, there has been an alarming trend involving tactical vehicle accidents and the resulting deaths that have gone unaddressed. Yesterday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a detailed report on military training accidents involving tactical vehicles. The shocking new report found that a lack of driver training and failures to properly oversee and implement key safety procedures were largely to blame.
The GAO also identified nine recommendations for the Department of Defense (DoD) to implement to reduce and eliminate future training accidents. I am writing you today requesting your immediate attention to, and implementation of, these recommendations. We must take swift action to improve our military training capabilities, and more importantly, save lives.
The GAO report concluded that “lapses in supervision, and lack of training were among the most common causes” of accidents. It is difficult to imagine in 2021 that our nation’s armed forces are unable to provide the necessary training for our active-duty men and women to keep them safe during training exercises, let alone on the battlefield. Furthermore, a Congressional Research Service report shows that between 2006 and 2021, nearly 32 percent of active-duty military deaths were the result of training accidents while only 15 percent of service members were killed in action.
Training exercise fatalities are of particular importance to Florida’s 16th Congressional District because my constituent, Ms. Kimberly Weaver, lost her 20-year-old son, SPC Nicholas Panipinto, in a tragic U.S. Army training accident involving a tactical vehicle at Camp Humphreys. Yesterday’s GAO report touches on some of the very same factors that contributed to SPC Panipinto’s tragic and preventable death.
According to Panipinto’s mother, Kimberly Weaver, Panipinto did not have a license, the required amount of driver training or any classroom instruction before beginning his road-test.
In fact, according to sworn testimony from his unit’s master driver, who’s responsible for training troops on vehicles and administering licenses, their unit’s driver training program was “nonexistent.” The unnamed individual went on to state that “When I took over the program there was nothing, I had no paperwork for any soldiers with licenses. Soldiers came up to me and informed me that the previous master driver just gave them licenses without a 40-hour block of instruction.”
It is imperative that the Pentagon adopt these new commonsense proposals in a timely manner. In the meantime, I will be drafting legislation requiring their enactment in order to ensure no more lives are needlessly lost.
Thank you very much for your prompt attention to this extremely serious issue. I look forward to hearing back from you about your plans to implement the GAO’s nine recommendations as quickly as possible.
Sincerely,
Vern Buchanan
Member of Congress
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