S. 4683

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4683 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4683

To require the Secretary of Defense to assess the effects of artificial 
intelligence integration on warfighter effectiveness, skill retention, 
and operational readiness, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 4, 2026

Mr. Kelly (for himself and Mr. Cotton) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Defense to assess the effects of artificial 
intelligence integration on warfighter effectiveness, skill retention, 
and operational readiness, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Warfighter Artificial Intelligence 
Readiness and Preparedness Act of 2026'' or the ``WARP Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EFFECTS ON WARFIGHTER 
SKILL RETENTION AND OPERATIONAL READINESS.

(a) Assessment Required.--Commencing not later than August 1, 2027, 
the Secretary of Defense shall conduct a comprehensive assessment of 
the effects on human performance of the adoption of artificial 
intelligence systems by personnel of the Department of Defense on the 
maintenance and retention of essential warfighter skills.
(b) Coordination and Lead Official.--The Secretary of Defense shall 
designate a senior official--
(1) to coordinate the assessment and research activities 
required by this section;
(2) to oversee the integration of findings under this 
section into the policies of the Department, with the objective 
of maximizing both artificial intelligence-enabled performance 
and proficiency in critical, hard-to-recover skills; and
(3) who is authorized to coordinate among the military 
departments and relevant defense agencies for purposes of 
carrying out this section.
(c) Scope of Assessment.--The assessment required under subsection 
(a) shall include the following:
(1) Identification of military occupational specialties and 
operational roles where structured proficiency management will 
be most critical to sustaining readiness alongside artificial 
intelligence adoption based on the susceptibility to skill 
atrophy resulting from reliance on artificial intelligence-
enabled systems as well as speed and investments to recover 
such skill.
(2) Evaluation of the conditions under which artificial 
intelligence-enabled systems augment warfighter capability and 
the conditions that call for deliberate proficiency sustainment 
measures to preserve independent judgment and awareness based 
on the cognitive, operational, and manual skills decline among 
personnel who regularly use artificial intelligence-enabled 
systems compared to personnel performing equivalent tasks 
without such systems.
(3) Identification of measurable indicators that 
distinguish beneficial skill augmentation from conditions 
requiring proficiency intervention.
(4) Assessment of how current training and certification 
programs can be structured to build and sustain critical, hard-
to-recover proficiency based on a review of the conditions 
under which reliance on artificial intelligence systems may 
contribute to overreliance, miscalibrated confidence in system 
outputs, diminished trust in independent human judgment, or 
reduced situation awareness.
(5) Evaluation of whether current training programs and 
certification standards adequately preserve critical warfighter 
proficiency for degraded-mode, denied, or contested operational 
environments, including the adequacy of primary, alternate, 
contingency, and emergency planning frameworks.
(6) Recommendations for policies, training protocols, 
doctrine, acquisition requirements, talent management 
strategies, or readiness metrics to ensure that artificial 
intelligence adoption strengthens operational readiness.
(d) Research Activities.--
(1) In general.--The official designated under subsection 
(b) shall carry out research activities to support the 
assessment required under subsection (a), which may include 
controlled experiments or high-fidelity simulations comparing 
performance with and without artificial intelligence-enabled 
systems, longitudinal studies measuring skill retention 
trajectories, full-spectrum performance, and recovery 
timelines, assessment of operator confidence and decisionmaking 
accuracy under simulated contested conditions, and development 
of standardized skill sustainment metrics applicable across the 
Armed Forces.
(2) Coordination.--In carrying out the research activities 
under paragraph (1), the official designated under subsection 
(b) shall coordinate with the following entities, as 
appropriate:
(A) The Army Research Institute for Behavioral and 
Social Sciences.
(B) The Office of Naval Research.
(C) The Air Force Research Laboratory Human 
Effectiveness Directorate.
(D) The Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence 
Office.
(E) The military departments.
(F) Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness.
(G) Such other research entities and operational 
commands as the Secretary of Defense considers 
appropriate.
(3) Research methodology.--Research conducted under this 
subsection shall--
(A) establish baseline measurements of task 
performance and cognitive capabilities prior to 
artificial intelligence system use;
(B) assess performance changes during routine 
artificial intelligence-assisted operations;
(C) evaluate skill sustainment when artificial 
intelligence systems are removed or unavailable;
(D) measure recovery timelines to baseline 
proficiency after extended artificial intelligence-
assisted operations; and
(E) identify factors that accelerate or support 
skill sustainment.
(e) Reports.--
(1) Initial report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 
committees a report on the assessment required under 
subsection (a).
(B) Elements.--The report required under 
subparagraph (A) shall include the following:
(i) An identification of military 
occupational specialties and operational roles 
where proficiency sustainment will be most 
critical based on which are most vulnerable to 
hard-to-recover skill atrophy.
(ii) Preliminary findings from controlled 
operational experiments and the design of 
longitudinal studies under subsection (d)(1).
(iii) An assessment of opportunities to 
strengthen readiness based on identification of 
high-level risks to proficiency based on 
current or planned artificial intelligence 
deployment practices.
(iv) Recommended changes to policies, 
training, doctrine, or acquisition requirements 
to optimize human and artificial intelligence 
integration.
(v) Recommendations for updates, identified 
as near- or long-term in nature, to existing 
training programs, certification standards, and 
operational doctrine to build and sustain 
critical and hard-to-recover proficiencies and 
identification of the Department of Defense 
component or office best positioned to 
implement each such recommendation.
(vi) An identification of any additional 
authorities, resources, research partnerships 
with academic institutions or federally funded 
research and development centers, or technical 
expertise needed to conduct the research 
activities described in subsection (d).
(2) Longitudinal study report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than three years after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Defense shall submit to the congressional defense 
committees a report containing the findings of the 
longitudinal studies conducted under subsection (d)(1).
(B) Elements.--The report required under 
subparagraph (A) shall include the following:
(i) An identification of measured rates of 
retention and atrophy of hard-to-recover skills 
across different military occupational 
specialties and operational contexts.
(ii) An assessment of skill recovery 
trajectories and the time required to restore 
baseline proficiency.
(iii) An evaluation of degraded-mode 
performance outcomes under simulated contested 
conditions.
(iv) Updated recommendations for policies, 
training protocols, doctrine, acquisition 
requirements, or readiness metrics based on 
research findings.
(v) Any update to the recommendations made 
under paragraph (1)(B)(v).
(f) Briefings.--
(1) Initial briefing.--Not later than 90 days after the 
submittal of the initial report under subsection (e)(1), the 
Secretary of Defense shall provide to the congressional defense 
committees a briefing on the findings and recommendations 
contained in such report.
(2) Longitudinal study briefing.--Not later than 90 days 
after the submittal of the longitudinal study report under 
subsection (e)(2), the Secretary of Defense shall provide to 
the congressional defense committees a briefing on the findings 
and recommendations contained in such report.
(g) Review of Training and Doctrine.--The Secretary of Defense 
shall assess whether existing training programs, certification 
standards, and operational doctrine adequately account for the effects 
of artificial intelligence-enabled systems on skill retention and 
degraded-mode performance and shall include in the reports required 
under subsection (e)--
(1) recommendations for updates, as appropriate, identified 
as near-term or longer-term in nature; and
(2) identification of the Department of Defense component 
or office best positioned to consider implementation of each 
such recommendation.
(h) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Artificial intelligence system.--The term ``artificial 
intelligence system'' has the meaning given the term 
``artificial intelligence'' in section 238(g) of the John S. 
McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 
(Public Law 115-232; 10 U.S.C. 4061 note prec.).
(2) Artificial intelligence-enabled system.--The term 
``artificial intelligence-enabled system'' means any weapons 
system, decision support tool, or operational capability that 
incorporates or relies on an artificial intelligence system.
(3) Congressional defense committees.--The term 
``congressional defense committees'' has the meaning given that 
term in section 101 of title 10, United States Code.
(4) Degraded-mode operations.--The term ``degraded-mode 
operations'' means military operations conducted when 
artificial intelligence systems or supporting infrastructure 
are unavailable, partially functional, compromised, or under 
adversarial attack.
(5) Primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency 
planning.--The term ``primary, alternate, contingency, and 
emergency planning'' means a framework for ensuring continuity 
of operations when primary systems become unavailable, 
requiring personnel to employ alternate approaches, contingency 
plans, or emergency procedures.
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