Readiness, Innovation, and the Right to Repair

At this year’s Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll delivered a message emphasizing the urgency of modernization: “move fast, break procurement.”
Drawing lessons from Ukraine’s battlefield ingenuity, Driscoll warned that the U.S. military cannot afford decade-long procurement programs or rigid bureaucracy.

“If you look at Ukraine, they’re updating their software on their drones every two weeks. We as a nation would have struggled to do it within two years,” Driscoll said. “We’re having to retrain the entire Pentagon that the bigger threat is inaction rather than fast action, with a little bit of scrappiness required.”

That same mindset drives the Warrior Right to Repair Act — a bipartisan initiative that empowers service members to repair their own equipment, speed up maintenance, and keep America’s fighting force ready to respond.

From Battlefield Innovation to Legislative Reform

Every hour that equipment is down for maintenance is an hour it’s out of the fight. Yet too often, troops must wait for contractors — sometimes halfway across the world — to provide parts, tools, or technical data for even routine repairs.

This dependency slows operations, increases costs, and limits flexibility. Recognizing the right to repair is about more than efficiency; it’s about ensuring the U.S. military can act with autonomy, agility, and resilience when it matters most.

The Warrior Right to Repair Act (H.R. 5155 / S. 2209) was reintroduced earlier this year on a bipartisan, bicameral basis by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT), and Representatives Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), and Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), with Kiggans and Goodlander—both Navy veterans and members of the For Country Caucus—co-leading the bill in the House.

Versions of this legislation have been incorporated in both the House and Senate-passed versions of the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

A Commonsense Fix with Broad Support

Momentum continues to grow for incorporating right-to-repair provisions across the Department of Defense.

Rep. Maggie Goodlander’s amendment, requiring contractors to provide “reasonable access to repair materials,” was adopted in the House Armed Services Committee’s version of the NDAA.

In the Senate, the Armed Services Committee included language in its version of the bill that would require contractors to provide “Instructions for Continued Operational Readiness” (ICOR), ensuring access to technical data, software, and documentation for in-house repair and maintenance.

A September 2025 Government Accountability Office report reinforced the need for reform, highlighting that major programs, such as the F-35 and Littoral Combat Ship, lack critical data rights, which results in sole-source contracts, higher costs, and longer maintenance times.

In testimony and interviews, Secretary Driscoll has consistently made clear that reforming sustainment is essential to readiness:

“If we think about engagement with a peer like China, being able to repair our parts in areas around the world will be crucial to that. And, if we are having six-month delays in CONUS and paying 100x the rate, that is not scalable in an actual conflict.”

Our Commitment to Warrior Right to Repair

We support the Warrior Right to Repair Act because it strengthens our national defense by returning control, agility, and problem-solving power to the people who need it most — our service members.

Every hour a piece of equipment waits on a contractor instead of being fixed in the field is an hour of lost readiness. This legislation ensures that the men and women defending our nation have the authority, tools, and technical data to make critical repairs when and where they’re needed.

That empowerment also saves taxpayer dollars and reduces waste tied to sustainment contracts — freeing up resources to invest in modernization, training, and innovation. It’s about ensuring that our military can move as fast as the challenges it faces and that our troops have the independence and trust they deserve.

Right to Repair isn’t just a policy reform. It’s a critical readiness issue. It’s a reaffirmation that trusting those who serve to act, adapt, and innovate makes our nation stronger, safer, and better prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

Bottom Line

The Warrior Right to Repair Act isn’t just about fixing equipment; it’s about fixing how we think about readiness. In modern warfare, agility is as critical as armor. Our troops must have the authority and tools to adapt in real time, not wait for permission or paperwork.

By empowering service members to repair and sustain their own equipment, we strengthen the core of America’s defense: the initiative and ingenuity of those who serve. Every faster repair, every cost saved, and every mission that moves forward without delay translates directly into greater operational readiness.

In today’s modern battlefield, speed is crucial, and our military should focus on outpacing our adversaries, not our bureaucracy.

Protecting America’s Future

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the world in medicine, industry, finance, and national security. But as AI systems become more capable, the risks are rising just as fast.

At With Honor Action, we believe principled leadership demands we act now by building upon our previous work with the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) and the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP). That’s why we are endorsing three bipartisan bills: the Chip Security Act, the No Adversarial AI Act, and the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act, bills that secure U.S. innovation, protect data, and strengthen our democracy.

Why the Moment Is Urgent

Americans expect action.

A September 2025 Gallup survey commissioned by our partners at SCSP found that 80% of Americans believe the government must prioritize safety and data security in AI development, even if that slows innovation.

Importantly, there is bipartisan support: 79% of Republicans and 88% of Democrats agree. Public opinion is clear: Americans want AI regulation that protects both innovation and national security.

Experts have warned us for years.

The NSCAI concluded in its Final Report that “America is not prepared to defend or compete in the AI era.” The report underscored the need to secure the semiconductor supply chain, invest in AI talent, and set ambitious governance goals to ensure U.S. leadership.

The private sector sees it too.

At the WIRED AI Power Summit, policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers debated the future of AI and regulation. Across sectors, there was consensus: the pace of AI development demands urgent safeguards as adversaries will not wait for us to catch up.

The bottom line: Public opinion, government reports, and private-sector leaders are aligned: America must act now to secure AI.

The Legislation We Endorse

• Chip Security Act (H.R. 3447 / S. 1705)

AI infrastructure depends on advanced semiconductors. Yet, the Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly been a bad-faith actor, diverting U.S.-made chips to their military and surveillance networks.

“The Chinese Communist Party has proven time and again that they are bad faith actors when it comes to stealing American innovation. To maintain our AI dominance, we must prevent American technological exports from being diverted into black market bazaars or the back streets of Beijing. With Honor Action is proud to endorse this bipartisan legislation that ensures manufacturers and chipmakers have the tools to identify diversion of our chips and ensure the security and privacy of our sensitive technologies.”

This legislation strengthens export enforcement, equips manufacturers to detect diversion, and ensures U.S. chips power progress—not authoritarian control.

• No Adversarial AI Act (H.R. 4142 / S. 2177)

While the U.S. leads in AI applications for healthcare and manufacturing, many foreign adversaries are racing to weaponize AI against us. The No Adversarial AI Act, led by With Honor Action ally and Navy veteran Senator Gary Peters, bans federal agencies from using AI systems developed by adversaries or under their influence. It also mandates tracking the provenance of AI systems, adding much-needed transparency to supply chains.

“While the United States looks to be a leader in the development of artificial intelligence applications for progress in fields like healthcare, manufacturing, and finance, many foreign adversaries are looking to weaponize this technology against the U.S. The No Adversarial AI Act allows the U.S. to list and track the origins of AI systems and prohibits the use of systems developed by foreign adversaries within the federal government. With Honor Action is proud to endorse this legislation to bring more transparency to AI supply chains and ensure adversaries of the United States are not using this critical technology to threaten our national security or pilfer our innovation.”

• No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act (H.R. 1121)

DeepSeek, a CCP-owned AI system, poses serious risks if allowed on U.S. government devices. Because it is subject to CCP control, DeepSeek could harvest sensitive data, spread disinformation, and undermine trust.

The No DeepSeek Act, co-led by several For Country Caucus members, including Co-Chair Rep. Don Davis, Vice Chairs Reps. Chris Deluzio and Nick LaLota, and Rep. Seth Moulton, prohibits its use on U.S. government devices, following the precedent of bipartisan bans on adversary-controlled apps like TikTok.

“We’re proud to endorse the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act! This bipartisan legislation takes a strong stand against the national security threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party’s ownership of DeepSeek. Using this technology on U.S. government devices could expose sensitive data to adversarial influence–a threat we cannot tolerate.”

Bipartisan Leadership in Action

Veterans in Congress understand that readiness saves lives. They know that national security does not stop at physical borders — it extends to data pipelines, AI systems, and the semiconductor supply chain. That’s why members of the For Country Caucus, a bipartisan group of veterans in Congress, are at the forefront of these efforts. Their military backgrounds give them a shared understanding of what it means to be prepared, and their bipartisan cooperation ensures these bills are not about politics — they’re about security.

In a time of increased polarization, America needs Democrats and Republicans working together to tackle the 21st century’s defining security challenges.

Bottom Line

AI holds both promise and peril. Left unchecked, adversarial AI systems threaten our economy, our security, and our democracy. With principled, bipartisan leadership, America can harness AI responsibly.

The three bills we endorse — the Chip Security Act, the No Adversarial AI Act, and the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act — offer tangible solutions to protect data, secure supply chains, and prevent adversaries from exploiting our systems.

The American people want safeguards. Experts have warned us of the risks. Veterans in Congress are showing bipartisan leadership. The moment for action is now.

With Honor Action is committed to supporting solutions that put security first, innovation on solid ground, and our democracy on a stronger footing.