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Subscribe to RSSA study conducted by the military has found that nearly 6 percent of soldiers experienced concussions during combat-training courses at Fort Hood, according to a report from ProPublica and NPR.
The study raises questions about the safety of standard training classes and whether or not soldiers had deployed to combat without realizing they suffered a mild traumatic brain injury.
The results are preliminary and rely on data gathered from hand-to-hand combat classes taken by nearly 2,000 soldiers at the Texas base. The post is one of the Army's main centers for basic training where soldiers spend more than 20 hours learning fighting techniques that include boxing, wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, according to the report.
Experts told ProPublica and NPR that they were concerned that brain injuries suffered prior to combat could have made soldiers more vulnerable to the long-term consequences of additional concussions, including frequent headaches and memory loss.
“Even 1 percent of soldiers would concern me,” Col. Carl Castro, the director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program, told ProPublica and NPR. “I’d say we need to do something. We don’t want soldiers getting injured while training, if we can prevent it.”
There have been at least 244,000 traumatic brain injuries as a result of explosions and accidents since 2000, but previous reports from ProPublica and NPR found that number may be much higher due to underreporting and missed diagnoses.
Reporters who were permitted to observe advanced students learn how to teach combat-training classes in Fort Benning in Georgia witnessed one student get kicked in the head during a sparring match. That student appeared dazed, was evaluated by a medic and did not participate in the remainder of the class. He was later sent to a clinic for evaluation.
The ProPublica/NPR report said that hundreds of thousands of soldiers had taken the combat courses at bases nationwide in the past decade before deploying.
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Leave a Comment:
The Judge is right.
Look to the past actions, NOT the mouth's lies, to see what's true.
Get informed, for God's sake !!!
Um Duh!!! Every soldier goes through the training you train as you fight if you don't you die, technology can not replace boots on the ground or realistic training. So of course there are going to be troops getting concussions, but it is that level of training that prepares them to go into combat and come back home alive.
Then, the concussion is aggravated by battlefield concussions soon after. These can lead to crippling injuries, to depletion of forces (if bad enough), and ultimately to life long crippling of individuals. Hardly calls for "its the nature of the game" kind of blase`comments, imnho!
6% is very low, they have gear on to prevent injuries, without the gear it would probably 10 times as high. A concussion is not that big of deal most of the time. I would rather get an concussion than come home in a body bag. In a lot of sport both kids and adults get concussion from getting hit in the head, or in an auto accident so are we supposed to not play sports or drive?
"...they have gear on to prevent injuries..."
I'll have my pal Ozzie put his boxing gloves on and you can take a self-guided tour of the galaxy.
What's the big deal? War is serious business, and it's not child friendly. That would be crazy. War is a last ditch effort for a nation to defend itself, and anything goes as far as training, weaponry, and tactics, save for Geneva Convention Laws. Live rounds of ammo, fumes, high explosives, intense heat, grueling injuries on every part of the body and mind, et cetera, are part of war and training for war.
Military training and war games must be practiced with such intensely powerful substances, awesome weapons, and high risk physical interaction and activity, that unfortunate things are bound to happen because things go wrong like everything else in life. Remember, war is only the last ditch effort when everything else fails. If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen.
"If you can't stand the heat then get out of the kitchen." ... and on the internet to join the real tough guys.