{"id":38177,"date":"2018-05-22T20:45:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T20:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/22\/are-shoulder-fired-weapons-causing-traumatic-brain-injuries-how-the-army-plans-to-find-out\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:15:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:15:17","slug":"are-shoulder-fired-weapons-causing-traumatic-brain-injuries-how-the-army-plans-to-find-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/05\/22\/are-shoulder-fired-weapons-causing-traumatic-brain-injuries-how-the-army-plans-to-find-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Are shoulder-fired weapons causing traumatic brain injuries? How the Army plans to find out"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent report from the Center for a New American Security<\/a> suggests that soldiers who regularly use shoulder-fired weapons<\/a> might be experiencing traumatic brain injuries<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to those findings, Army Secretary Mark Esper is calling on his service to better monitor potential brain trauma on-site and track soldiers to quickly diagnose any damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to monitor our soldiers<\/a>, because we owe them that much, and we need them,\u201d Esper told an audience at CNAS headquarters on May 16. \u201cYou can\u2019t afford to not do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Freddy Toruno, 455th Expeditionary Medical Support Squadron diagnostic imaging technologists, positions a service member for a CT scan at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan\u2019s Craig Joint Theater Hospital July 24, 2014. The CT scan helps radiologists diagnose different types of disease and injuries, such at traumatic brain injuries. Toruno is deployed from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. and a native of Miami, Fla. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Evelyn Chavez\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As of 2007, head injuries were the most commonly treated by military doctors, beyond chest and abdominal wounds, CNAS found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I first entered the service, we were really starting to learn about hearing protection, and making sure you had hearing protection when you were on a firing range,\u201d said the retired lieutenant colonel, who graduated from West Point in 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study suggested that TBI is under-reported due to fear of stigma. In addition, TBI from a blast wave is unlikely to show up on a routine brain exam, which generally only catches extreme injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany injured soldiers do not initially realize that they have suffered an injury or experience immediate symptoms,\u201d the CNAS report said. \u201cSoldiers have even participated in firefights that they later do not remember, losing hours of memory after blast exposure.\u201d
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