📋 Tender Overview
Last week, the Defense Department released requirements meant to help manage the risks to brain health from blast overpressure, which can be generated by weapons systems such as howitzers, mortars and shoulder-mounted weapons.
The policy memorandum, signed by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, aligns squarely with the department's warfighter brain health initiative and the secretary of defense's priority of Taking Care of Our People.
Among other things, the memorandum spells out requirements related to standoff distances for specific weapons systems; proposed limits on expending excess rounds once training requirements are met; tracking personnel exposed to blast overpressure, also called BOP; and consideration of BOP risks to brain health when developing new weapons systems.
"The department is committed to advancing combat readiness while reducing risks associated with blast overpressure," Hicks wrote in her memorandum.
While the effort directs commanders to take reasonable steps to preserve the brain health of DOD personnel, it is not intended to undermine training efforts or combat effectiveness, Hicks said.
"This policy is not meant to preclude or unreasonably restrict commanders from conducting mission-essential weapons training," she said. "Rather, this policy establishes requirements for practical risk management actions to mitigate and track BOP exposures across the DOD."
Key elements of the new policy include requirements for the DOD components to:
Implement procedures and standards for training and operations that incorporate blast overpressure risk management, including weapon specific standoff distances;
Enhance training and education for civilian and military leaders and service members, to include procedures to seek medical evaluation when experiencing symptoms;
Identify and track all DOD personnel who are at the highest risk for exposures to hazardous BOP using the DOD's Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System-Industrial Hygiene, or DOEHRS-IH;
Integrate simulations into training strategies to reduce BOP exposure, when appropriate, and not expend excess rounds once training standards are achieved;
Consider BOP hazards within the acquisition life cycle of weapons systems; and
Establish procedures to track and maintain oversight of BOP exposure risk management actions, including processes to request, and provide justification in writing for any exceptions to the policy requirements.
"Blast overpressure is the wave that's experienced after firing a weapon or munition," said Kathy Lee, director of the Department of Defense policy for warfighter brain health. "When this wave occurs, there can be impacts that affect cognition, balance changes and other potential brain health issues."
The memorandum includes examples of systems commonly in use across the department that can cause BOP. Such systems include the shoulder-mounted M72 light anti-armor weapon and M136 light antitank weapon; indirect fire systems, including all platforms of both howitzers and mortars; and .50-caliber rifles such as the M107 sniper rifle, the M2A1 machine gun, and the MK15 sniper rifle.
Lee said the weapons named in the memorandum were identified after consultation with the military services.
"Symptoms that have been reported after use of these munitions in a low-level blast exposure environment have included complaints of headache, concentration problems, dizziness and irritability, memory problems and slower reaction time," Lee said. "So, these are some of the manifestations, some of the health and performance effects that were found while we performed some in-depth studies looking at those particular weapon systems."
For such systems, one example of BOP mitigation includes defining an appropriate standoff distance from the blast source — how far away an individual such as instructors or range safety officers must stand in order to minimize their exposures to BOP. For the M120 and M121 120 mm mortars, the recommended standoff distance is 13 feet, for instance, while for the M107 sniper rifle, the standoff is seven feet.
The DOD Blast Overpressure Reference and Information Guide is a tool the department is using to better understand the level of BOP produced from high-risk weapons and operations, and the appropriate standoff distances, said Laura Macaluso, the director for force safety and occupational health.
"This is a great tool for personnel in the field to use and we have already received positive feedback. It has easily understood illustrations about the blast overpressure generated from specific weapons, such as where to stand and body positioning," Macaluso said.
The memorandum also directs that the services identify and track within DOEHRS-IH all personnel who are potentially exposed to BOP. A special emphasis should also be placed on occupational specialties that, by nature of operational activities, regularly place those personnel at increased risk of BOP exposure, the memorandum says.
"The DOEHRS-IH system is expected to be used to enter information for tracking exposures ... identifying those personnel who are potentially exposed and then tracking those exposures ... so that we can link individual personnel to their level of exposure while performing their duties," said Macaluso.
This memorandum also directs the acceleration of service members obtaining their first baseline cognitive assessment to support monitoring brain health throughout their time in service. In keeping with that, the memorandum requires DOD components to ensure all new active and reserve accessions undergo cognitive assessments as part of the entry process.
