Researchers with the Defense Health Agency's Hearing Center of Excellence are connecting directly with warfighters, to better understand the hearing and balance challenges they experience in an operational environment.
"We're making a concerted effort to 'get out of the clinic' and connect and interact with operational military units in their mission environments," explained Dr. Jeremy Nelson, HCE research branch chief.
The team's first venture outside the clinic focused on pilot training and flight operation activities at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph on Dec. 7. There they met with staff and pilots from the 560th Flying Training Squadron, 559th MDS Flight Medicine, Aerospace Physiology, and Aircrew Flight Equipment.
"The objective here was to experience some of the noise exposures many of these individuals deal with regularly when performing their missions," said Nelson.
A tour of the 433rd Airlift Wing's C-5 hangar at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas early December completed the two-day outreach, where HCE staff got a firsthand look at C-5 flight operations with a tour of the aircraft.
"They demonstrated that hearing and balance health, as well as communication, play important roles in the execution of military training and flight operations," Nelson summed up after the tours. "For these kinds of engagements, the hope is for our team to gain a better appreciation of military flight operations, and how things like movement and noise influence the ability to communicate," said Nelson. "This line-side military engagement was a great success."