Senators seek answers from the Pentagon about troops' exposure to explosions
A bipartisan group of senators are demanding to know what steps the military is taking to protect troops from brain injuries caused by blasts from firing their own weapons.
The Senators – Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts; Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa; and Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina – detailed the demand letter sent Thursday to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.
This was prompted by recent research from the Department of Defense and reporting by The New York Times, which shows that repeated exposure to explosions from weapons such as artillery and rocket launchers can cause permanent and profound brain damage, but that the military often fails to mobilize troops. protect or even recognize. the risks of the explosions.
“Our service members have suffered the health consequences of overexposure to blasts for far too long, and they continue to see no real action to mitigate and track these risks,” Ms. Warren said in a statement.
Brain damage from repeated exposure to explosions can lead to depression, cognitive problems, panic attacks, violent outbursts and other symptoms that may not surface for months or years later. These symptoms are routinely mistaken in the military for post-traumatic stress disorder or, in some cases, deliberate misconduct, The Times found.
Troops who fired large numbers of artillery shells or rockets suffered from insomnia, confusion and an inability to control their tempers. Some began to hallucinate. Many died by suicide. But the military often did not realize what was happening and treated troops for routine mental health problems or punished them for their behavior.
The senators' letter includes two pages of concerns about the long-term effects of explosions on brain health. She directs the Defense Department to report on efforts to address the problem by the end of February.
A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to comment on the letter, saying the department would instead respond directly to the senators.
This isn't the first time Congress has pushed for action on explosions. In 2018, Congress passed a bill, introduced by Ms. Warren, that required the Defense Department to measure the blast intensity of its weapons and study the effect on troops' brains. A second bill, in 2020, required the military to document military personnel's exposure to explosions in their records.
Driven by the mandates, the Department of Defense has conducted 26 studies in recent years on blast exposure and its health effects. In 2022, the department created a comprehensive effort called the Warfighter Brain Health Initiative, to gather information about the problem and recommend solutions. For the first time, it published a recommended safety threshold for exposure to weapons explosions.
This year, the Army will begin giving cognitive tests to all new troops and retest them every five years to watch for signs of mental decline. Special Operations plans to conduct the tests for its troops more frequently, every three years.
But troops say efforts at the top have so far resulted in little change for rank and file. Weapons that deliver blasts greater than twice the recommended safety limit are still in widespread use. Pentagon safety instructions are merely recommendations that commanders in the field are free to ignore. And during the training there are still some bystanders unnecessarily exposed to mind-bending explosions.
“I want answers about what military leaders have done” in the years since Congress imposed the mandates, Ms. Warren said in her statement.
The science of blast injuries is still being researched. It's not yet clear what types of blasts cause brain damage, or how repeated blasts can make the problem worse. So little is known that the safety threshold set by the Pentagon for 2022 is not based on any scientific evidence and may have little relationship to what is actually safe.
Kathy Lee, director of the department's Warfighter Brain Health Policy, said that during listening sessions with troops, many of them said they thought brain health was important but didn't want safety protocols to dilute training.
“That's probably the biggest concern for commanders,” she said. “They are very concerned about brain health, but where is the line to ensure that we are strong and lethal and can defend the homeland?”
Careers in combat arms have been defined for generations by working around weapons explosions, and that changing the mindset towards explosions will require a cultural shift, Ms Lee said.
In the meantime, she said, the department was increasing its efforts to detect and treat brain injuries.
Tracking military personnel's blast exposure, as required by Congress, is still in the planning stages, and it increasingly appears that the system will not involve actual individual tracking of all troops.
The Special Operations Command plans to equip all its operators with meters that measure and record each detonation. But the rest of the military tends toward a system that assigns each military member an estimated blast dose based on assumptions about their training schedule and job category.
Several researchers warned that applying broad estimates could easily miss individual exposures and undermine the intent of the law.
Many veterans and families pushing for greater protection for the troops see the fleet of studies and safety recommendations coming out of the Pentagon as little more than a sham.
“The Pentagon has not treated this with the urgency it deserves,” said Frank Larkin, a retired Navy SEAL and Secret Service agent.
Mr. Larkin's son, who had also joined the SEALs, died by suicide after struggling with depression and other behavioral problems. After his death, it was revealed that his brain was riddled with a unique damage pattern only seen in veterans exposed to weapon explosions.
“There are things they can do now to make a difference, and they are spinning their wheels,” Mr. Larkin said of the Pentagon.
He predicted that the military would continue business as usual unless confronted with overwhelming evidence of damage.
“They will do what they have always done until something changes course and forces change,” he said. “We need hard science. Until then, they don't want to be disturbed.”