U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) recently urged the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and congressional leaders to reform military training procedures following the death of one of his constituents stationed abroad.
U.S. Army Specialist (SPC) Nicholas Panipinto of Bradenton, Fla., in November 2019 died during a training accident at Camp Humphreys in South Korea when the fighting vehicle he was driving overturned during a road test.
“The heartbreaking and very preventable death of my constituent SPC Nicholas Panipinto clearly shows that changes in training and safety procedures need to be made,” Rep. Buchanan said. “The serious deficiencies and failures identified in the report on SPC Panipinto’s death call for immediate reforms within the Department of Defense. I want to make sure that no family has to go through the pain and suffering that SPC Panipinto’s family has faced.”
Between 2006 and 2018, 32 percent of active-duty military deaths were the result of training accidents, according to a May 2019 report by the Congressional Research Service, which noted that during the same time period, 16 percent of service members were killed in action.
As congressional members work to craft the upcoming 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, Rep. Buchanan urged them to include reforms around eliminating training accidents among U.S. service members, according to a letter he sent separately to leaders of the armed services committees in both chambers of Congress, and to U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Specifically, Rep. Buchanan suggested reforms to strengthen and enhance current requirements for training and licensing of military drivers; add a simulated training requirement to existing protocols to ensure new military drivers are properly trained; and bolster existing regulations governing the safe and proper functioning of all military equipment used in training exercises.
Rep. Buchanan also suggested that steps be taken to ensure a hospital or emergency medical facility exists on-campus at all U.S. military bases on foreign soil, and that U.S. military bases have properly functioning MedEvac helicopters and military ambulances stocked with the appropriate emergency medical supplies.
“The highest tribute that can be paid to the life of SPC Panipinto is that the Defense Department will make sure that future military personnel who are injured during training exercises can quickly receive high-quality medical treatment that might help save their lives,” the congressman wrote Secretary Esper.