WASHINGTON– The Pentagon is taking new measures to protect soldiers’ brain health. Starting next year, all new recruits will be required to undergo basic cognitive tests to help diagnose traumatic brain injuries later in the career.
In a memo released on Friday, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks also instructed the armed forces to increase the distance between personnel and weapon explosions during training exercises in order to minimize the risk.
In addition, protective equipment must be provided to anyone who fires certain weapons, including instructors, she wrote.
The move came nine months after U.S. reservist Robert Card went on a rampage at a bar and bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others.
An autopsy of Card’s brain by a Boston University center, which was also made available to Card’s family, found that he had “probably” suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Card was a U.S. Army reservist and longtime instructor at an Army hand grenade training range. He was likely exposed to thousands of low-intensity blasts, according to doctors at Boston University’s Concussion Legacy Foundation.
“Blast overpressure is one of many factors that can negatively impact Soldiers’ brain health,” Hicks wrote in a statement, adding that her directive “builds on existing efforts” by all branches of the military to “mitigate the effects of blast overpressure.”
The effects of “blast overpressure” on brain health are not yet fully understood by researchers, something Hicks acknowledged in her memo. However, researchers agree that repetitive stress can affect a person’s brain health and cognitive performance, causing ailments such as headaches, attention deficit disorder, and memory loss.
Basic brain tests are designed to facilitate the diagnosis of brain injury by comparing the condition of the brain before blast exposure.
Currently, the military subjects its troops to only basic cognitive testing before deployment, but this approach does not detect training injuries.
The Pentagon’s new policy now requires baseline testing for anyone entering service after Dec. 31. Soldiers already on active duty will receive baseline testing by the end of 2025, in addition to new requirements to maintain maximum distance between personnel and blast waves during training.
“This policy is not intended to prevent or unreasonably restrict commanders from conducting mission-relevant weapons training,” Hicks wrote in the memo. “Rather, this policy establishes requirements for practical risk management measures to (Explosion overpressure) BOP risks across the Department of Defense.”
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