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Marines with combined anti-armor team conduct weapon familiarization training June 3 at the North Training Area at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji. It was the first time for many of the Marines to fire the AT-4 light anti-armor weapon. The Marines are with the CAAT of Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, which is currently assigned to 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, under the unit deployment program. The combat correspondent captured the photo at a shutter speed of 1/160th of a second, creating a multiple-exposure effect of the AT-4 gunner, as well as capturing the dust being shaken from the Marines’ helmets as a result of the shockwave created from the concussion of the weapon’s back-blast. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam B. Miller/Released)
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Warfighter Brain Health Hub

The Department of Defense’s mission requires warfighters to make quick decisions. That’s why protecting warfighter brain health helps promote an effective fighting force.

The military’s warfighter brain health initiative works to understand and protect service member health. Checking brain health helps find injuries, and it’s important to prevent injuries before they happen. Quickly figuring out injuries and giving fast treatment helps DOD keep warfighters performing at their best.

Some areas of focus include, as follows:

  • Optimize cognitive and physical performance
  • Identify and monitor cognitive performance
  • Prevent, recognize, and minimize the effects of traumatic brain injury
  • Detect TBI immediately when it occurs to reduce its effects on warfighters
  • Identify known and emerging brain threats, such as blast overpressure exposures and anomalous health incidents in military environments
  • Take actions to reduce brain threat exposures
  • Reduce or eliminate long-term or late effects of brain injury
  • Advance warfighter brain health science

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Fact Sheet
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Low-Level Blast: Fact Sheet for Service Members

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TBICoE developed this fact sheet for service members to learn more about blast overpressure, low-level blast, and high-level blast exposures and what possible effects those exposures can have on their brain health. Service members should be aware of the potential effects of blast exposures, which occupations and heavy weapon systems are associated ...

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Talking Blast Exposure Impact With TBICoE

Talking Blast Exposure Impact With TBICoE

Can blast exposure impact the brain? TBICoE's Branch Chief, Dr. Katie Stout, explains. While some service members may experience blast exposure without an immediate diagnosable injury, there may still be effects on the brain. TBICoE is advancing blast exposure research to help assess risk and protect service members. To learn more, visit health.mil ...

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Sep 5, 2024

Uniformed Services University Professor Dr. Michael Roy Receives $500,000 Grant for Blast Exposure Research

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Adrianna Williams, left, and U.S. Air Force Airman Madalyn Duke, 66th Security Forces Squadron entry controllers, wear female body armor during a training at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, June 29.

Dr. Michael Roy, professor of medicine and deputy director of the military traumatic brain injury initiative at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine to conduct research on the effects of blast exposure among military ...

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Aug 29, 2024

2000-2023 DOD TBI Worldwide Numbers At-A-Glance

.PDF | 837.04 KB

TBICoE is the Defense Department’s office of responsibility for tracking traumatic brain injury data in the U.S. military. The "DOD TBI Numbers At-A-Glance" provide a high-level overview of TBI's sustained since 2000 and also show the data by severity and service branch.

Fact Sheet
Aug 29, 2024

Low-Level Blast: Fact Sheet for DOD Providers

.PDF | 817.46 KB

Low-level blast is defined as blast generated from firing heavy weapon systems or explosives in combat or training environments. Exposure to low-level blast does not typically result in a clinically diagnosable concussion, also known as mild traumatic brain injury. TBICoE developed this fact sheet for DOD health care providers.

Last Updated: April 25, 2025
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