Ayotte fights to ensure female service members have proper body armor

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) continued her efforts to ensure that female service members have access to protective equipment and body armor that fits them properly.

Earlier this year, Ayotte inserted language into the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that pushed the Pentagon to pursue a “comprehensive acquisition strategy” to ensure female service members receive properly designed protective equipment in light of their expanded role in combat operations.

Ayotte recently requested an update on the Pentagon’s efforts to provide “integrated combat ensemble designed to meet validated operational requirements” in a letter sent to Department of Defense Under Secretary Frank Kendall.

“When we send our service members into harm’s way, we must ensure they have quality, well-designed equipment that fits properly,” Ayotte wrote. “That goes for all of our service members — male and female… Unfortunately, women serving in the military often deploy with body armor, equipment and clothing not designed for them and that does not fit well.”

Ayotte, the chairwoman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, wrote that she was eager to continue working with Kendall to ensure female service members have appropriate equipment.

Ayotte also worked to reform DoD acquisition policies related to body armor for service members in the fiscal year 2016 NDAA.

She successfully included legislation that prohibited the use of reverse auction or lowest-price-technically-acceptable contracting policies in the procurement of body armor to ensure quality and to reduce casualties resulting from equipment failure.