Over the past two decades, hundred of thousands of U.S. Troops have suffered Traumatic Brain Injuries. As many as 414,000 service members have suffered traumatic brain injuries since the year 2000, according to the Pentagon (although the number is almost certainly significantly higher than that, since when a soldier experiences brain trauma in multiple events, the Pentagon only counts it as one injury). In the Iranian ballistic missile attack, the U.S. troops who were operating drone flights suffered the most serious brain injuries, as many were stationed near the airstrip, in anticipation of a potential ground strike.
In addition to the traumatic brain injuries, many of the U.S. troops suffered anxiety-related symptoms following the attacks, including severe insomnia and high heart rates. Since traumatic brain injuries are not obvious—like shrapnel wounds—they are known as “silent” injuries. Further, these specific injuries were characterized as “fundamentally different” from those resulting from past attacks, because rather than a “quick-hit, single-explosion attack,” the explosions came in waves, lasting for more than an hour.