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Christopher Warren's avatar

Hey Colonel! I heard/saw a report on the Thom Hartmanns Show that Artillery Crews on the M177 Howitzers are suffering Traumatic Brain Damage from the very severe Concussive impacts from that weapons high performance capabilities and some are being Dishonorably Discharged for Mental Afflictions and released into the Public for us to handle! Sounds similar to how they don't give a shit about the Damage these people receive from their Duties! Reminds me about what you discussed.!

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Marty Wilde's avatar

Yes, I saw that too. It's very sad and also preventable...just more space between the troops and the howitzer.

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Julie Chapman's avatar

Thank you for your support for members of the military. Another source of long-term injury for vets has just come to my attention:

A 2018 article highlighted traumatic brain injury occurring from shoulder-fired weapons, with short-term problems with memory and thinking. It was not at that time clear whether those temporary changes could lead to permanent deficits. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/04/30/606142634/report-to-army-cites-concussion-risk-of-weapons-blast-to-the-shooter

Exposure to blast is an independent factor influencing psychiatric symptoms in Veterans beyond PTSD and mild TBIA similar and more intense blast-wave injury from repeated firings of long-distance rockets was recently reviewed - showing long-term impacts (Sept 2021).

https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0222-Teasing-out-the-effects-of-blasts-on-mental-health.cfm

.. and the article that brought it to my attention: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/us-army-marines-artillery-isis-pentagon.html

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Marty Wilde's avatar

Yes, I saw that, too. I expect that we are going to see a lot of TBIs in Ukraine's artillery soldiers as well. They're also firing an unprecedented number of shells over time.

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