New military recruits will get baseline cognitive testing and training instructors will have to stand farther away when some weapons are being fired under new Pentagon policies aimed at reducing troops’ risk of brain injuries from blast exposure.
The policies were laid out in a memo from Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks released Friday afternoon that comes after increasing pressure from lawmakers to do more to prevent brain injuries. The updates also come after reporting from Military.com and other news outlets on the risks of brain injuries among service members and the Pentagon’s slow response to the issue.
“The health and well-being of our service members and civilian personnel are crucial to maintaining the U.S. military’s status as the most capable and ready fighting force in the world,” Hicks said in a statement about the memo. “To maintain that advantage, I have directed the development of a comprehensive policy to manage risks associated with blast overpressure, integrating various department and military service initiatives and directives into a unified Warfighter Brain Health (WBH) Initiative.”
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Blast overpressure is any pressure caused by a shockwave that is over the normal pressure in the atmosphere. A growing body of evidence indicates that troops are at risk of brain injury-causing blast…
