[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 84 (Thursday, May 26, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S3326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 4315. Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. Stabenow) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2943, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities 
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for 
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military 
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which 
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle I of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1097. REPORT ON MILITARY TRAINING FOR OPERATIONS IN 
                   DENSELY POPULATED URBAN TERRAIN.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Despite years of contingency operations in densely 
     populated urban areas, the United States Armed Forces 
     continue to rely on crude mock-ups of city blocks for urban 
     training.
       (2) Current urban training complexes do not offer 
     sufficient capability to train or exercise joint, combined 
     arms or large units in a dense urban landscape of tall 
     buildings and other obstacles inhabited by millions of 
     people.
       (3) Combat units from all military services train in 
     facilities that are significantly smaller and less complex 
     than the real-world urban environments of today and of the 
     megacity challenges anticipated in the future.
       (4) The military services have identified the training gap, 
     but do not have the resources or funding to invest in the 
     development of massive cities with the infrastructure and 
     obstacles that would be encountered during a contingency in 
     dense urban environments.
       (5) In 2015, the Chief of Staff of the Army published 
     guidance to subordinate organizations to continue to develop 
     concepts and capabilities related to all aspects of the dense 
     urban terrain challenge.
       (6) The United States Army Training and Doctrine Command 
     (TRADOC) was directed to assume the leadership for the 
     development of solutions to address the myriad of challenges 
     operating in dense urban terrain, including requirements for 
     the developing an urban studies program to increase 
     operational leader understanding of urban environments, 
     advancing material solutions for current and future megacity 
     challenges, and improving urban systems modeling 
     capabilities.
       (b) Report.--
       (1) In general.--Not later than February 1, 2017, the 
     Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional 
     defense committees a report on plans and initiatives to 
     enhance existing urban training concepts, capabilities, and 
     facilities, and to provide for new training opportunities 
     that will more closely resemble large, dense, heavily 
     populated urban environments. The report should include 
     specific efforts to provide for a realistic environment for 
     the training of large units with joint assets and recently 
     fielded technologies to exercise new tactics, techniques, and 
     procedures, including consideration of anticipated urban 
     military operations in or near the littoral environment and 
     maritime domain as well as the cyber domain.
       (2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) may be 
     submitted in classified or unclassified form.
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