Defense Bill Mandates Changes to Weapons, Other Steps to Protect Troops' Brain Health

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Sweeping new efforts to protect the brain health of service members, including stricter safety standards for existing and new weapons, were included in the annual defense policy bill approved by Congress this month.

Under the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which is expected to be signed into law before the end of the month, existing weapons would have to be modified to reduce blast exposure both for those using the weapons and those standing close by, and future weapons systems would have to be developed with brain safety in mind.

“Blast overpressure has been devastating for our service members’ health, causing suicide, depression, seizures, and more,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said in an emailed statement. “I am firmly committed to doing everything I can in Congress to protect our service members from injuries caused by their own weapons and get them the care they deserve.”

Warren voted against final passage of the NDAA but pushed for the brain health initiatives included in the bill in her capacity as chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee. She and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced a separate bill earlier this year with the policy changes that were eventually folded into this year’s NDAA to address blast overpressure, which is any pressure caused by a shockwave that is over the normal pressure in the atmosphere.

Members of Congress in both parties have been increasingly concerned about traumatic brain injuries, or TBI, among service members amid a growing body of evidence of injuries and devastating symptoms caused not just by enemy attacks but also from routine military activities such as repeatedly firing artillery.

Military.com has reported extensively on evidence that TBI is linked to an increased risk of suicide among veterans and that Pentagon officials squandered opportunities to get ahead of the issue.

Last year, The New York Times also reported on hallucinations, seizures, suicide risks and other symptoms among troops who fired artillery during the war against the Islamic State terrorist group.

Lawmakers, particularly from Maine, also showed more interest in preventing and treating brain injuries after evidence that an Army reservist who carried out a mass shooting in the state last year had TBI.

Amid the increasing pressure from lawmakers to take the issue more seriously, the Pentagon over the summer rolled out several new brain health policies. Most notably, the Pentagon said it will track all service members’ cognitive health from the beginning of their careers.

But the new policies still fell short of what lawmakers were pushing for, such as modifying some weapons systems to reduce the blast exposure to the person firing the weapon.

Those modifications will now be mandated by the NDAA. Specifically, weapons will have to be adjusted to “reduce blast exposure of the individual using the weapon and those within the minimum safe distance,” according to the bill text.

New weapons systems would have to be developed while “taking into account the thresholds for blast exposure and overpressure safety,” and contractors will have to provide the department with “blast overpressure measurements and safety data,” the bill adds.

The bill also requires the defense secretary to identify safety thresholds for blast exposure and create formal training for service members about those thresholds before weapons training, deployments and other high-risk activities. The secretary could waive the thresholds if it’s essential for national security, but waivers will have to be tracked in a central database.

The bill will also create a pilot program to track blast exposures of individual service members; enshrine into law the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, which is an existing program in the military health system to treat TBI; require the Pentagon to establish standardized monitoring, treatment and referral guidelines for TBI programs; and mandate standard follow-up care for TBI patients.

“Traumatic brain injuries have tragically become the signature wound of this generation of service members,” Ernst said in a statement after the NDAA passed. “Through my bipartisan efforts in this year’s defense bill, we can better meet the challenges of our service members today and prevent future injuries by mitigating exposure.”