Artificial Intelligence for the Military Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1776 To implement recommendations relating to military training on emerging technologies. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 20, 2021 Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To implement recommendations relating to military training on emerging technologies. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Artificial Intelligence 4 for the Military Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. INTEGRATING DIGITAL SKILL SETS AND COMPUTA- 6 TIONAL THINKING INTO MILITARY JUNIOR 7 LEADER EDUCATION. 8 Not later than 270 days after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1776.IS S1776 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1776 IS of Naval Operations, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, 1 and the Commandant of the Marine Corps shall expand 2 the curriculum for military junior leader education to in- 3 corporate appropriate training material related to problem 4 definition and curation, a conceptual understanding of the 5 artificial intelligence lifecycle, data collection and manage- 6 ment, probabilistic reasoning and data visualization, and 7 data-informed decisionmaking. Whenever possible, the new 8 training and education should include the use of existing 9 artificial intelligence-enabled systems and tools. 10 SEC. 3. INTEGRATION OF MATERIAL ON EMERGING TECH- 11 NOLOGIES INTO PROFESSIONAL MILITARY 12 EDUCATION. 13 Not later than one year after the date of the enact- 14 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation 15 with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, shall ensure that the cur- 16 riculum for professional military education is revised in 17 each of the military services to incorporate periodic 18 courses on militarily significant emerging technologies 19 that increasingly build the knowledge base, vocabulary, 20 and skills necessary to intelligently analyze and utilize 21 emerging technologies in the tactical, operational, and 22 strategic levels of warfighting and warfighting support. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1776.IS S1776 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1776 IS SEC. 4. SHORT COURSE ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR 1 SENIOR CIVILIAN AND MILITARY LEADERS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 4 shall establish a short course on emerging technologies for 5 general and flag officers and senior executive-level civilian 6 leaders. The short course shall be taught on an iterative, 7 two-year cycle and shall address the most recent, most rel- 8 evant technologies and how these technologies may be ap- 9 plied to military and business outcomes in the Department 10 of Defense. 11 (b) THROUGHPUT OBJECTIVES.—In assessing par- 12 ticipation in the short course authorized by subsection (a), 13 the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that— 14 (1) in the first year that the course is offered, 15 no fewer than 20 percent of general flag officers and 16 senior executive-level civilian leaders are certified as 17 having passed the short course required by sub- 18 section (a); and 19 (2) in each subsequent year, an additional 10 20 percent of general flag officers and senior executive- 21 level civilian leaders are certified as having passed 22 such course, until such time as 80 percent of such 23 officers and leaders are so certified. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1776.IS S1776 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1776 IS SEC. 5. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY-CODED BILLETS WITHIN 1 THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 4 shall ensure that the military services— 5 (1) code appropriate billets to be filled by 6 emerging technology-qualified officers; and 7 (2) develop a process for officers to become 8 qualified in emerging technologies. 9 (b) APPROPRIATE POSITIONS.—Emerging tech- 10 nology-coded positions may include, as appropriate— 11 (1) positions responsible for assisting with ac- 12 quisition of emerging technologies; 13 (2) positions responsible for helping integrate 14 technology into field units; 15 (3) positions responsible for developing organi- 16 zational and operational concepts; 17 (4) positions responsible for developing training 18 and education plans; and 19 (5) leadership positions at the operational and 20 tactical levels within the military services. 21 (c) QUALIFICATION PROCESS.—The process for 22 qualifying officers for emerging technology-coded billets 23 shall be modeled on a streamlined version of the joint qual- 24 ification process and may include credit for serving in 25 emerging technology focused fellowships, emerging tech- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1776.IS S1776 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1776 IS nology focused talent exchanges, emerging technology fo- 1 cused positions within government, and educational 2 courses focused on emerging technologies. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:44 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1776.IS S1776 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS