Standing at a roadside sign in Arizona 5 miles from Meteor Crater…a good metaphor for the myriad of almost immediate impacts to the brain from the overpressure of explosions over the years, many caught inside my own placed charges.
From “shellshock” from the First World War, through WW2 and to fighting in the Falklands war, to operating in the anti terrorist team way back when while dressed in the “black kit” and respirator, to the “corporate wars” of the last 20 odd years and all the other operations and training in between, an infantry soldier, corps soldier or special forces soldier…”Tommy” has had his brain whacked through many decades now.
Yet, exactly what has been done for Tommy, especially today?
Today, when it’s been known for some time that just like PTSD, TBI is real, and it’s hurtful and it’s not going away!
Back in early 2023 I wrote a post on this blog about my own TBI: https://bobshepherdauthor.com/2023/04/30/just-an-old-special-forces-soldier-living-with-long-term-traumatic-brain-injury-tbi/
So there you have it, a great life in the military over 23 years, followed by another 17 years in and out of conflict areas around the world…no regrets yet plenty of unseen damage. But hey, I’m one of the lucky ones, I’m still here at 70. But what will happen to me in the future, my wee brain and my executive functions will surely continue to deteriorate, the effects from that will no doubt be seen in my manner and thoughts, or lack of.
But that’s only me, a last century soldier as I call myself these days…a product of a long time ago now.
How about today, and the young men and women looking at a career in the military?
What are they being told about what can happen to their brain, should they sign on the dotted line for that military career?
With today’s knowledge, they all deserve to be told…then it’s up to the individual. They also deserve to be looked after if they ever take up the challenge and then suffer from a traumatic brain injury during or after their careers.
After all, today, much is known about head injuries in rugby, American football, and other contact sports, but that doesn’t stop youngsters from taking part. At least they know what can happen and when it may be a good time to stop and change careers.
I may well not hold the views of others over this subject, so here goes: I’m aware that many individuals with TBI don’t even know that they have it. We all have cracks that I’ve mentioned in past posts, so please, let the light in through those cracks before they get deeper, and share your problems with loved ones soonest.
In order to fight easy in warfare and conflict, training has to be as realistic as possible to the real thing.
It’s a fact of life in the military: the victors are those who train hard, but as realistically as possible in order to fight easy.
I’m aware that, particularly in the US military, they are looking at ways of limiting concussions by for example, training in an indoor theatre using scenarios on the big screen. But for me, that’s not realistic training. It’s also a way of saving $$$$$ first and foremost. The result will be seen on the battlefield, due to NOT training hard and realistically, and therefore fighting easy.
At the end of the day, it’s all about WAR. War is tough, there are lots of effects on the body and mind, from death (which stands alone of course), to wounds both physical and mental, many of which can lead to long term trauma.
In my view, the only thing that can happen is that individuals have all of the risks explained to them (everyone deserves to know), and when an individual is suffering during or after their career, they immediately get the correct professional help that they require.
Equipment and explosives, for example, for breaching defences and buildings while the soldiers are in close proximity, have improved over the decades since I last used them in training and on operations all those decades ago. But they still have an effect on the soldier if they’re inside the overpressure of that explosion. There is no getting away from that.
Therefore, given what Tommy gives during his career, the least the government can do is to ensure that a budding Tommy is informed and he understands, and later if Tommy has a military career, no matter how short, and if ever suffers from TBI, is looked after in the best possible way as soon as possible.
As for me, my brain will deteriorate with age, but today I can cope most days, I’m still running and carrying a Bergen on my back, and still training with weights, doing my pull-ups, dips and press-ups, and spending time exercising on the Powerplate. I’m still writing and reading heaps in order to keep my wee brain (the living bits) active.
With my family to look forward to every day, they deserve me to be at my best every day. I wish I had known that years ago, when I had no clue what was going wrong with me, and why I was suffering from severe anxiety.
I do often wonder about those mates who took their own lives, because they could no longer live with the confusion of the way they were, and all those others in the military whom I never got to know. Did they have TBI, yet the coroner, not knowing the full history, would have written up something else, something else more glaringly obvious perhaps? And of course it goes without saying, those living with TBI today who are under doctors who just don’t recognise it, therefore the medication given just isn’t working to give the individual as normal a life as possible, those individuals are confused and still suffering, left to just get on with it.
Thank you to the doctor five years ago here in America, who bothered to go through my history with me before coming to the conclusion that I had TBI, then sent me off to see specialists. Before that, I had seen 4 doctors who just pushed this old grumpy Scotsman out of the door with different inhalers each time for pollen allergies.
As many TBIs cannot be fully recognised until the individual is dead and the brain is seen directly and dissected, I will therefore be giving my brain to science…if they can find it.
I look forward to the results!
Bob Shepherd 