In the U.S. Military, Brain Injuries are typically treated as wounds that do not require rapid reporting. Kimo Keltz, a U.S. Army Specialist, remembers hearing a whistling noise in the sky—a missile. Keltz was on the guard tower deck when the explosion lifted his body—in full armor—a couple of inches off the floor. While Keltz initially believed he had escaped with only a serious headache, the following day he noted his head felt like he had been “hit with a truck.” Keltz, like many others, was subsequently diagnosed with traumatic brain injury.
Following the last twenty years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, traumatic brain injuries have, unfortunately, become one of the most common types of injuries to U.S. military troops. Unlike military incidents that threaten life, limb, or eyesight, the U.S. military has historically treated traumatic brain injuries differently. In most cases, these serious brain injuries do not require the same level of chain of command rapid reporting.