# Plain Language Summary of H.R. 5193

This bill asks the military's top leadership to study whether they should include new biotechnology scenarios in their war games and training exercises. Right now, when the military runs practice scenarios to prepare for future conflicts, they simulate traditional weapons and tactics. This bill wants them to figure out if they should also practice responding to biotechnology-based threats and capabilities that could show up on a real battlefield.

The study would look at several types of biotechnology applications that could be militarily relevant. This includes things like biological enhancements that could make soldiers stronger or smarter, special chemicals or materials created through biotechnology that might give an army an advantage, and ways that enemy countries might use biotechnology as a weapon beyond traditional biological warfare. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the highest-ranking military officer) would need to talk to military commanders around the world and experts both inside and outside the Department of Defense to understand what new biotechnology developments exist that the military should be preparing for.

Within six months of the bill becoming law, the military leadership would have to report back to Congress with their findings. The report would explain what changes they recommend making to war games and whether they have a plan to keep updating these exercises as biotechnology continues to advance. Essentially, this is about making sure the military's training stays current with real-world technological developments so soldiers and commanders are better prepared for modern threats. The bill doesn't actually require the military to make any changes—it just requires them to study whether they should.

To direct the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to conduct a feasibility study on incorporating militarily-relevant applications of emerging biotechnology into wargaming exercises, and for other purposes.