Transcription
If you've ever fired a mortar, a Carl Gustaf, breached a door with explosives, or stood near any blast during your service, you may have a traumatic brain injury that was never diagnosed. For generations, headaches after firing mortars were just part of the job. Ringing in your ears after breaching was normal. Cognitive fog after repeated blast exposures, ah, you're just tired. Drink some water and drive on. That wasn't toughness. That was brain damage. And the military is finally admitting it.
So, there is new research from my alma mater, the 75th Ranger Regiment, that is revealing something shocking. During military parachute operations alone, instrumented mouthguards are showing that the true concussion rate may be more than 10 times higher than previously reported. We thought it was about one and a half injuries per 1,000 jumps. The data now suggests it's closer to 36 to 48 per 10,00 jumps. And that's just from parachute landings. We haven't even talked about what happens to the mortman, the breachers, the gunner standing next to explosions day after day in training and in combat.
So, if you served in any MOS that puts you near BLAST, infantry, artillery, combat, engineers, mortars, special operations, you need to hear this because this research doesn't just validate what you've been feeling for years. It gives you the medical and scientific evidence to file a VA claim. And today I'm breaking down the latest research on blast over pressure and traumatic brain injury and what the military is finally doing about it and how you can use this information to get rated for a TBI and its secondary conditions. I am Dr. Marshall Bar, an actual doctor, a former CMP examiner, disabled veteran, and I served in first battalion 75th Ranger Regiment, the same unit that's now leading the way in this research. This one's very personal to me, so let's get into it.
So, let me explain what's actually happening to your brain when you're near an explosion. When a weapon fires or a charge detonates, it creates a pressure wave that travels outward faster than the speed of sound. This is called blast over pressure or BOP. You can't see it. You might not even feel it as impact, but that pressure wave passes through your skull and affects your brain tissue. Think about it like this. Your brain is soft tissue just floating around in fluid inside your skull. When a pressure wave hits, it doesn't just push your head. It travels through your head. The pressure compresses and stretches the brain tissues in ways we're only now beginning to understand.
[clears throat] And here's what makes this dangerous. It is cumulative, meaning one blast might not cause noticeable damage, but dozens, hundreds, over a career of training and combat, that begins to add up. The 75th Ranger Regiment's brain protection task force identified the most at risk personnel. Mortmen, Carl Gustaf gunners, breachers, literally anyone working with explosive entries, artillery crews, combat engineers, anyone in proximity to IED blasts or firefights. And [snorts] here's what most people don't realize. This isn't just about combat. The research shows that service members are experiencing these symptoms during routine training. Every live fire exercise, every breaching course, every mortar range, the damage accumulates whether you're in Kandahar or Fort Benning.
So, let me describe what blast induced TBI looks like and tell me if this sounds familiar to you. So, you start getting a chronic headache that started during or after service. Maybe you develop tinnitus, ringing in your ears that never goes away. Maybe you develop cognitive fog, like trouble concentrating or forgetting things or feeling slow. Or you developed sleep problems where you can't fall asleep or stay asleep anymore and never feel rested the next day. Or maybe you've been suffering from irritability and mood changes. You got that short fuse, anger that comes out of nowhere, or you have sensitivity to light and sound or balance problems or depression and anxiety.
For decades, when service members reported these symptoms, they were just told, "That's just what happens when you fire mortars," or, "Everybody's ears ring after breaching, or you're just stressed out," or "Drink water and take Motrin and move on." Those weren't excuses for your symptoms. They were admissions that this was known to happen and was accepted at the cost of doing business. What you've been experiencing is not weakness. It isn't in your head in the way they meant it to be. It's in your head in a very literal, physical, and medical way. And now there's research to prove it. So if you were exposed to blast during your service, whether you filed a claim or not, hit subscribe right now. This research is changing how the VA evaluates TBI claims, and you need to know about it.
Now, let me tell you what the 75th Ranger Regiment discovered. So, in response to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 and a Department of Defense memorandum in August 2024, the 75th Ranger Regiment established its brain protection task force. Their mission was to stop waiting for perfect solutions and start protecting war fighters. Now, their operating principle, and I absolutely love this, is an 80% solution that can be implemented now is superior to a 100% solution that may never arrive. Rangers leading the way as always.
First, they developed a standardized SF600 template to document blast exposure events in medical records. This creates a permanent record in MHS Genesis, a paper trail that follows you throughout your career and into the VA system. So, why does this matter for VA claims? Because documentation is everything. If your blast exposures are documented in your service treatment records, your TBI claim just got a lot easier to prove.
Second, they tested materials to reduce blast over pressure during breaching. The most effective solution, standard issue wool blankets. Two layers of wool blankets hung near walls during internal breaching showed a 30 to 70% reduction in reflected over pressure. Think about what that means. For decades, breachers were absorbing 30 to 70% more pressure than necessary because no one had tested simple solutions like a wool blanket.
Third, and this is a big one, they partnered with the Uniform Services University and Walter Reed to study head impacts during parachute operations using instrumented mouthguards. So, previously published research said the rate of closed head injuries during jumps was about 0.15%, meaning 1.5 injuries per 1,000 jumps. The instrumented mouthguards revealed that 6 to 8% of all landings exceed 40 Gs of force. That qualifies as a hard landing. That is 60 to 80 out of every 1,000 jumpers. And here's the kicker. 60% of jumpers who experience these hard landings subsequently show diagnosable signs of concussion. That puts the true concussion rate at about 3.6 to 4.8% per jump, more than 10 times higher than we actually previously thought. For years, we were told concussions from jumping were rare. The data says, well, they're actually common. They were just going undiagnosed and underreported.
Fourth, they're testing something called the underwash effect. This is where a blast wave travels around the edge of your helmet and actually gets trapped between your helmet and your head, amplifying the pressure. Studies have shown that over pressure under the helmet can be two to 10 times greater than the initial blast wave itself because of this effect. Your helmet, designed to protect you, may have been amplifying blast damage to your brain in certain situations. The task force is testing different helmet configurations right now to find real solutions.
So now let me tell you about two veterans I worked with. Both were in the Ranger Regiment like I was. Both had significant blast exposure but very different outcomes with their VA claim. The first veteran, I'm going to call him Davis. He was a mortman. Four deployments, thousands of rounds fired over his career. He started getting headaches in his second deployment. Tinnitus by his third. By the time he got out, he was starting to have brain fog, memory problems, sleep issues, mood swings, but his service treatment records, almost nothing. A few sick call visits for headaches where he was given Motrin, no mention of blast exposure, no documentation of his symptoms progressing over time, no TBI screening. Davis filed for TBI after separation and was denied. The VA said there was no evidence of a TBI event in his records, no documented blast exposure, no in-service diagnosis. His word against a blank medical record. Davis is still fighting that claim three years later.
Now, the second veteran, I'm going to call him Reyes. Also [snorts] a mortman, similar exposure profile to Davis, but Reyes served after the brain protection task force started documenting exposures. Every significant training event, Reyes had an SF600 in his record documenting his blast exposure. When he started reporting headaches after cognitive symptoms, they were documented in the context of his known exposures. He got a TBI screening. The connection was in his record. Reyes filed for TBI 6 months after separation. Service connection granted at 70% for TBI with secondary ratings for headaches, sleep disturbance, and cognitive impairment. Same job, same exposure, same symptoms. One had documentation and one didn't. That is the difference between denied and a 70% rating.
Now, let me tell you how to file a TBI claim based on blast exposure, even if you don't have documentation like Reyes did. All right. So, step one is establish that you were exposed to blast. So, you may not have SF600s documenting every mortar round, but you do have a DD214. You have your MOS. You have your deployment records. So, if you were an 11 Charlie Mortarman or a 12 Bravo Combat Engineer or a 13 series Artillery or an 18 series Special Forces or any MOS that involves explosive weapons or breaching, your [snorts] exposure is implied by your job title. Your personnel records show where you were and when. Combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. IED exposures would be presumed. Buddy statements from fellow service members who can describe your duties and blast exposures are incredibly powerful evidence. Like, "I served with this guy and we fired hundreds of mortar rounds together during deployment." That becomes documentation.
Step two, document your current symptoms. So, just go to your medical provider, the VA or civilian, and report your symptoms. Headaches, cognitive problems, memory issues, sleep disturbances, mood changes, tinnitus, all of it, and whatever it may be. And be specific. Like, "I have headaches three to four times per week. They started during my second deployment. I have trouble concentrating on tasks. I forget things I just learned. I have trouble sleeping through the night." Why? Because this creates a current medical record of your symptoms, which is essential for any VA claim.
Step three is get a medical opinion connecting your symptoms to your service. This is where a nexus letter becomes critical. You need a medical provider to review your records, understand blast over pressure and its effects on the brain, and write an opinion stating that your current TBI symptoms are at least as likely as not related to your blast exposure and service. And now you have peer-reviewed research to support the connection. The 75th Ranger Regiment's findings, the study on underwash effect, the data on cumulative blast exposure. This is no longer speculation. It's actual documented evidence and science.
Now, here's something else you need to understand. TBI is rarely just a TBI. Traumatic brain injury causes or contributes to a whole web of other conditions, and each of those can be rated separately. So, common secondary conditions to TBI are things like migraine headaches, sleep disturbance and insomnia, cognitive impairment, depression or anxiety, tinnitus, vestibular dysfunction and balance problems, light and sound sensitivity. So, when you file for TBI, you should also file for every secondary condition you are experiencing related to it. Each one adds to your combined rating. So, here's an example. Let's say you get 70% for TBI, but you also have migraines secondary to TBI. That's potentially another 30 to 50%. Sleep disturbance, tinnitus, depression, each one adds up. Veterans with TBI and its secondary conditions can easily reach a 100% combined or total disability individual unemployability rating, TDIU. So, don't file for TBI alone. File for the whole picture.
Now, let me be fair about a few things, okay? So, a couple points here. Point number one is having blast exposure doesn't automatically mean you have a TBI. You still need current symptoms and a medical connection. The exposure is necessary, but not sufficient by itself. The second point is the VA has historically been skeptical of TBI claims, especially without documented in-service events. This research does help, but you should still expect scrutiny. So, build your case carefully. So, third point is this isn't about gaming the system. Please understand that. This is about recognizing that for decades the military ignored a real medical problem. If you have symptoms, you deserve evaluation and compensation. If you don't have symptoms, please don't file a claim. You don't deserve it. It's fraud and it's lying and it's wrong. The goal is accuracy. The research now supports what veterans have been saying for years. Use that research to get the rating you have earned.
Now, if you were exposed to blast during your service and you're experiencing symptoms like headaches, cognitive problems, sleep issues, mood changes, we can help you build your TBI claim. At Extera Health, we offer nexus letters. We provide physician-led, peer-reviewed written medical opinions connecting your current TBI symptoms to your documented blast exposure. We cite the current research. We explain the medical mechanism. We give you the evidence you need to win your claim. We also offer a claims roadmap service where we review your service records, identify your exposure events, and help you build a comprehensive claim that includes TBI and all its secondary conditions. We also offer CMP exam prep. So, TBI exams include cognitive testing and detailed symptom questions. We can prepare you to clearly articulate and communicate how your symptoms affect your daily life. If you're interested in any of these services, the links are in the description below. We will look at your case and give you honest guidance and transparent feedback.
Now, look, I served in First Bat in 75th Ranger Regiment. I know what it's like to be near explosions. I know the headaches. I know the ringing that never stops. I know the feeling of your brain not working the way it used to. For years, we were told that was just normal, part of the job, cost of doing business, price of lethality. It was never normal. It was always injury. And now there's research that proves it. If you were exposed to blast during your service, mortars, breaching, artillery, IEDs, anything, and you're experiencing symptoms, you deserve to be evaluated. You deserve to be compensated. The science is now on your side. The 75th Ranger Regiment is still leading the way. They led the way in combat. Now they're leading the way in protecting the force. Rangers lead the way all the way to the VA.
Now, TBI and PTSD often go hand in hand. The symptoms overlap, the exposures overlap. Many veterans have both. So, if you're filing for PTSD or you already have a TBI rating and you're wondering about PTSD, my next video breaks down exactly what happens at a PTSD CMP exam and how to prepare for it. So, watch my PTSD CMP exam prep guide. It could be the difference between 50 and 70%. I am Dr. Marshall Bar, an Army Ranger, a 75th Ranger Regiment medic, a physician, and a former CMP examiner. They called it the cost of lethality. Now it's the cost the VA owes you. Rangers lead the way. I'll see you in the next video. And until next time, stay machine.