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☆ The Army Sees Mortars as Safe. Troops Report Signs of Brain Injury.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Dave Philipps | More About Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

After firing about 10,000 mortar rounds during four years of training, one soldier who joined the Army with near-perfect scores on the military aptitude test was struggling to read or do basic math. Another soldier started having unexplained fits in which his internal sense of time would suddenly come unmoored, sending everything around him whirling in fast-forward. “Guys are getting destroyed,” said Sergeant Devaul, who has fired mortars in the Missouri National Guard for more than 10 years. “Heads pounding, not being able to think straight or walk straight. They say you are just dehydrated, drink water.”

Persons: Michael Devaul, ’, ”, Sergeant Devaul Organizations: Army, Missouri National Guard

☆ Losing a Foot Never Held Her Back, Until She Tried to Join the Military
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Hanna Cvancara’s dream is to become a nurse in the military, and she has been trying to achieve that dream for more than a decade. But every time she applies, she gets rejected. She can do double the number of push-ups required, and has finished the timed 1.5-mile run with minutes to spare. The issue is that Ms. Cvancara has only one foot and gets around on a prosthetic. So the military will not let her join.

Persons: Hanna Cvancara’s, It’s, Cvancara Locations: Spokane

☆ Bill in Congress Would Force Action on U.S. Troops’ Blast Exposure
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Lawmakers from both parties plan to introduce a sweeping bill in Congress on Wednesday that would force the military for the first time to track and limit troops’ exposure to damaging shock waves from firing their own weapons. The bill, known as the Blast Overpressure Safety Act, would order the military to begin recording troops’ individual blast exposures in training and regularly give exposed troops neurocognitive tests to check for signs of possible injuries. It would also require military medical personnel to be trained in recognizing injuries from repeated blast exposure, which are currently often misdiagnosed as behavioral health issues, if they are diagnosed at all. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, plan to introduce the bill in the Senate on Wednesday. Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, plans to introduce a similar bill in the House.

Persons: Senators Elizabeth Warren, Joni Ernst, Ro Khanna Organizations: Senators, Republican Locations: Massachusetts, Iowa, California

Listen and follow The DailyApple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicWarning: this episode contains descriptions of violence and self harm. Last fall, an Army reservist killed 18 people at a bowling alley and restaurant in Lewiston, Maine, before turning the gun on himself. Dave Philipps, who covers military affairs for The Times, had already been investigating the idea that soldiers could be injured just by firing their own weapons. Analyzing the case of the gunman in Lewiston, Dave explains, could change our understanding of the effects of modern warfare on the human brain.

Persons: Dave Philipps, Dave Organizations: Spotify, The Times Locations: Lewiston , Maine, Lewiston

☆ Wide Ramifications Seen for Brain Damage Found in Maine Gunman
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shredded connections deep in the brain. Battered and scarred blood vessels that are no longer able to support neurons. But the finding raises other questions that have broad implications for the military and for the nation’s millions of veterans. Mr. Card was a grenade range instructor who never deployed to combat. His only exposure came from routine training blasts on the training range — at a level that is supposed to be safe.

Persons: Robert R Organizations: Army

☆ Profound Damage Found in Maine Gunman’s Brain, Possibly From Blasts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A specialized laboratory examining the brain of the gunman who committed Maine’s deadliest mass shooting found profound brain damage of the kind that has been seen in veterans exposed to repeated blasts from weapons use. The lab’s findings were included in an autopsy report that was compiled by the Maine chief medical examiner’s office and released by the gunman’s family. In 2023, after eight years of being exposed to thousands of skull-shaking blasts on the training range, he began hearing voices and was stalked by paranoid delusions, his family said. His brain was sent to a Boston University’s C.T.E. Center, a laboratory known for its pioneering work documenting chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C.T.E., in athletes.

Persons: Robert Card Organizations: Army Reserve Locations: Maine, Lewiston, Boston

The U.S. Supreme Court brought certainty on Monday to a primary season muddled by confusing and divergent state-level rulings by deciding unanimously that the 14th Amendment did not allow states to disqualify former President Donald J. Trump. But reaction to the ruling showed that the challenges to Mr. Trump’s candidacy had hardened political dividing lines and angered Republicans who saw the lawsuits as an antidemocratic attempt to meddle in the election. And the ruling was handed down as voters in more than a dozen states prepared for Super Tuesday primaries. “It motivated people to get involved,” said Brad Wann, a Republican Party caucus coordinator in Colorado, the first of three states to disqualify Mr. Trump, and the state at the center of the Supreme Court case. “They feel like the Democrats in this state are trying to take basic rights away.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, ”, Brad Wann, Mr, Trump, “ Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Trump, Republicans, Super, Republican Locations: Colorado

☆ Defense Department Identifies 3 Soldiers Killed at Base in Jordan
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Department of Defense on Monday identified three Army Reserve soldiers who were killed at a U.S. base in Jordan on Sunday in what the Biden administration said was a drone attack from an Iran-backed militia. The department said at least 34 other service members were wounded in the attack. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Ga.; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga.; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Ga. “On behalf of the Army Reserve, I share in the sorrow felt by their friends, family and loved ones,” said the chief of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels. “Their service and sacrifice will not be forgotten, and we are committed to supporting those left behind in the wake of this tragedy.”

Persons: Biden, William Jerome Rivers, Kennedy Ladon Sanders, Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, ”, Jody Daniels, “ Organizations: of Defense, Reserve, 718th Engineer Company, Army Reserve Locations: U.S, Jordan, Iran, Carrollton , Ga, Waycross, Savannah, Ga, Fort Moore, —

☆ Pentagon Names Two SEALs Lost in Raid in Arabian Sea
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Dave Philipps | More About Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Defense Department identified on Monday the two Navy SEALs who were lost at sea and died this month during a nighttime commando raid on a small ship carrying weapons components bound for Yemen. Active-duty and veteran SEALs said it appeared that the men might have sunk quickly before they could be rescued, and that the circumstances of their deaths raised questions about the planning and conduct of the raid. Special Operator First Class Christopher J. Chambers, 37, and Special Operator Second Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27, were lost on Jan. 11 when SEALs in two stealthy combat speedboats, shadowed by helicopters and drones, boarded a dhow, a type of small wooden cargo ship, in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Somalia. Both SEALs were quickly lost in the waves.

Persons: Christopher J, Chambers, Nathan Gage Ingram Organizations: Defense Department, Navy Locations: Yemen, Somalia

☆ Senators Seek Answers From Pentagon on Troops’ Blast Exposure
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A bipartisan group of senators is demanding to know what steps the military is taking to protect troops from brain injuries caused by the blasts from firing their own weapons. The senators — Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts; Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa; and Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina — made the demand in a detailed letter sent on Thursday to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III. It was incited by recent research by the Defense Department and reporting by The New York Times showing that repeated blast exposure from weapons like artillery and rocket launchers can cause lasting and profound brain damage, but that the military often fails to protect troops, or even recognize the risks, from the blasts. “Our service members have been suffering the health consequences of blast overexposure for far too long, and they’re still not seeing real action to limit and track these risks,” Ms. Warren said in a statement.

Persons: Elizabeth Warren, Joni Ernst, Thom Tillis, North Carolina —, Lloyd J, Austin III, they’re, Ms, Warren Organizations: Republican, Defense Department, The New York Times Locations: Massachusetts, Iowa, North Carolina

☆ U.S. Troops Still Train on Weapons With Known Risk of Brain Injury
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Dave Philipps | More About Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

And each launch sent a shock wave whipping through every cell in the operator’s brain. For generations, the military assumed that this kind of blast exposure was safe, even as evidence mounted that repetitive blasts may do serious and lasting harm. In recent years, Congress, pressed by veterans who were exposed to these shock waves, has ordered the military to set safety limits and start tracking troops’ exposure. In response, the Pentagon created a sprawling Warfighter Brain Health Initiative to study the issue, gather data and propose corrective strategies. And last year, for the first time, it set a threshold above which a weapon blast is considered hazardous.

Organizations: Special Operations, Pentagon, Health Initiative Locations: Ozark

“My friends, my family, I don’t think they understood why I couldn’t hold it together,” he said in an interview. On a spring morning, a pair of rock-climbing shoes hung by the door of the light-filled cabin where he lives in the Appalachian Mountains. He is trying to move on from Iraq, but a lurking darkness keeps pulling him off course. He made some of the photographs accompanying this article while he was in the Marine Corps, from 2009 to 2018. He is now studying film at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Md.

Persons: “, ”, “ I’m, Daniel Johnson, Matthew Callahan Organizations: Lifeline, Marine Corps, Maryland Institute College of Art Locations: Iraq, United States, North Carolina, Washington ,, Baltimore, Md

☆ Five Takeaways From a Times Investigation of Artillery Blast Exposure
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When American military planners launched a ground offensive against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in 2016, they knew that the American public was weary of long wars in the Middle East, and that the operation would have to make do with very few Americans troops on the ground. So they relied on a strategy that had not been used much in decades: intensive bombardment by heavy artillery. Military guidelines said that firing all those high-powered artillery rounds was safe for the gun crews. But an investigation by The New York Times, including interviews with more than 40 gun-crew veterans and their families, found that the troops came home plagued by insomnia, confusion, memory loss, panic attacks, depression and, in some cases, hallucinations, among other symptoms. And because the military thought the blast waves were safe, it repeatedly failed to recognize what was happening to the troops.

Organizations: Islamic, The New York Times Locations: Islamic State, Iraq, Syria

The law is more burdensome than “red flag” laws in other states, which do not require taking people into custody and evaluating them. When the Sheriff’s Office received the Army report in mid-September, Sgt. Aaron Skolfield went to do a welfare check but did not find Mr. Card. Instead, Sergeant Skolfield worked with Ryan Card, who said he and his father had come up with a way to secure Mr. Card’s weapons. But Robert Card, it said, still “had access to his firearms prior to the shootings.”John Ismay and Dave Philipps contributed reporting.

Persons: Aaron Skolfield, Sergeant Skolfield, Ryan Card, Ryan, Robert Card, “, ” John Ismay, Dave Philipps, Kirsten Noyes Organizations: Sheriff’s, Army Locations: Sagadahoc

☆ U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force Struggle for Recruits. The Marines Have Plenty.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Dave Philipps | More About Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Army, Navy and Air Force have tried almost everything in their power to bring in new people. They’ve relaxed enlistment standards, set up remedial schools for recruits who can’t pass entry tests, and offered signing bonuses worth up to $75,000. The Marine Corps ended the recruiting year on Sept. 30 having met 100 percent of its goal, with hundreds of contracts already signed for the next year. The corps did it while keeping enlistment standards tight and offering next to no perks. When asked earlier this year about whether the Marines would offer extra money to attract recruits, the commandant of the Marine Corps replied: “Your bonus is that you get to call yourself a Marine.

Persons: ” Organizations: Army, Navy, Air Force, Military, Marines, Marine Corps

A group of Ukrainian Army soldiers pierced by Russian grenades and mortar shells arrived at a hospital recently in need of surgery. It would have been a familiar scene from the bloody war grinding on in Ukraine, except for two crucial differences: Most of the wounded soldiers were American, and so was the hospital — the U.S. Army’s flagship medical center in Germany. The Army has quietly started to treat wounded Americans and other fighters evacuated from Ukraine at its Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. When the war erupted in 2022, hundreds of Americans — many of them military veterans — rushed to help defend Ukraine. Most of the wounded have had to rely on a patchwork of Ukrainian hospitals and Western charities for help.

Persons: — Organizations: Ukrainian Army, Army, Regional Medical Center, Ukrainian, Pentagon Locations: Ukraine, Germany, United States

In a sealed room behind a gantlet of armed guards and three rows of high barbed wire at the Army’s Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado, a team of robotic arms was busily disassembling some of the last of the United States’ vast and ghastly stockpile of chemical weapons. In went artillery shells filled with deadly mustard agent that the Army had been storing for more than 70 years. “That’s the sound of a chemical weapon dying,” said Kingston Reif, who spent years pushing for disarmament outside government and is now the deputy assistant secretary of defense for threat reduction and arms control. The depot near Pueblo destroyed its last weapon in June; the remaining handful at another depot in Kentucky will be destroyed in the next few days. And when they are gone, all of the world’s publicly declared chemical weapons will have been eliminated.

Persons: ”, Kingston Reif Organizations: Chemical, United, Army Locations: Colorado, United States, Pueblo, Kentucky

Asthaa Chaturvedi and MJ Davis Lin and Dan Powell andLast week, a 21-year old airman from Massachusetts, Jack Teixeira, was arrested under the Espionage Act and charged with violating federal laws by sharing top secret military documents with an online gaming group. Dave Philipps, a military correspondent for The Times, explains why so many low-level government workers have access to so much classified material.

☆ Army Veteran Went Into ‘Combat Mode’ to Disarm the Club Q Gunman
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Dave Philipps | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +9 min

The mayor said he had spoken to Mr. Fierro and was struck by his humility. Mr. Fierro started to go for it, but then saw the gunman come up with a pistol in his other hand. As he held the man down and slammed the pistol down on his skull, Mr. Fierro started barking orders. A person was passing by, and Mr. Fierro said he ordered her to stomp the attacker with her high heels. The whole time, Mr. Fierro said, he kept pummeling the shooter with the pistol while screaming obscenities.

Persons: Richard M, Fierro, Mr, Anderson Lee Aldrich, “, John Suthers, Jess, Kassandra, Raymond Green Vance, Fierro’s, ”, Afghanistan he’d, I’ve Organizations: Q, Army, Star, Atrevida Locations: COLORADO, Iraq, Afghanistan, ”

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