Brain injury associated with US Military training weapons

By Zoe Heart. This article was initially published in our Concussion Update newsletter; please consider subscribing.

In a recent New York Times report, Dave Phillips brought attention to abundant evidence indicating that brain injuries and “serious and lasting harm” in veterans are related to their exposure to repetitive blasts from weapons used in training. Phillips cited eight studies and reports published between 2005 and 2023 in the article, all signaling an association between low-level blasts and injury to the brain. Former Navy Seal Frank Larkin expressed a strong need for reform in reference to Phillips’ findings, describing blast exposure in training as “an insidious threat that is absolutely affecting our force, and we have to act.”

A prominent study cited by Phillips was a population-based epidemiological investigation by Dr. Jennifer Belding et al. The study examined medical and career records of over two million service members over ten years, finding an association between repeated exposure to low-level blasts and TBI, as well as other cognitive and behavioral changes. These other changes included headaches, anxiety, communication problems, increased drug abuse/dependence, fatigue, migraines, posttraumatic stress disorder, and delirium/dementia. Phillips also referenced a CNN report indicating that troops deployed to Afghanistan experienced seventy percent of their exposure to blasts during training. Additionally, he cited a statement from Former Navy Seal Frank Larkin, estimating that eighty percent of Navy Seals’ blast exposure occurs during training.  

Phillips conveys a need for further research into the consequences of blast exposure in military training. He also notes that while Congress mandated blast-exposure monitoring in 2018, the military has not yet implemented real-time monitoring of blast exposure. He reports, “Troops say they see things changing, but not enough.”