World
With brain injuries a growing problem, the US military tests how to protect troops from blasts
WASHINGTON (AP) — The blast shook the ground and its red flash of fire covered the doorway as U.S. special operations forces blew open a door during a recent training exercise.
Moments later, in their next attempt, the boom was noticeably suppressed and the blaze a bit smaller, testament to just one of the new technologies that U.S. Special Operations Command is using to limit the brain injuries that have become a growing problem for the military.
From new required testing and blast monitors to reshaping an explosive charge that reduces its blowback on troops, the command is developing new ways to better protect warfighters from such blast overpressure and to evaluate their health risks, particularly during training.
“We have guys lining up to volunteer for these studies,” said retired Sgt. Maj. F. Bowling, a former special operations medic who now works as a contractor at the command. “This is extremely important to the community. They’re very concerned about it.”
The Defense Department does not have good data on the number of troops with blast overpressure problems, which are much harder to detect than a traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic brain injuries are better known and have been a persistent problem among combat forces, including those subjected to missile strikes and explosions that hit nearby.
According to the department’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence, more than 20,000 service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries last year. More than 500,000 have been diagnosed since 2000.
Josh Wick, a Pentagon spokesperson, said emerging information from evaluations of both acute blasts and repetitive low-level exposures shows links to adverse effects, such as the inability to sleep, degraded cognitive performance, headaches and dizziness.
“Our top priority remains our forces’ long-term cognitive well-being and operational effectiveness as warfighters,” said Gen. Bryan Fenton, head of U.S. Special Operations Command. “We are committed to understanding and identifying the impacts of blast overpressure on our personnel’s brain health.”
Fenton said research with academics and medical and industry experts is helping find ways to mitigate and treat overpressure. He said cutting-edge technologies are key to reducing the effects of repeated exposures, such as those many of his troops experience.
Out in a remote training area for Army special forces at Fort Liberty in North Carolina, commandos used what they call a Muchete breaching charge, specifically formed into a shape that more precisely directs the blasts and limits the harmful waves coming from an explosion. A small number of journalists were allowed to watch the training.
“The reduction on the blast overpressure coming back on the operator on average is generally between 40 and 60%,” said Chris Wilson, who leads the team at the command that oversees clinical research and other performance-related initiatives. “It really also depends on where somebody is standing. But it’s certainly a pretty dramatic reduction in the exposure. So I think that’s a win.”
Wilson said development and testing of the refined charge is ongoing but that units are using this one now in training until one gets final approval and can be more widely distributed.
Because of the extensive amount of training for special operations forces — both to hone their skills and to prepare for specific operations — troops may practice breaching a door dozens or hundreds of times. As a result, training is where they are most likely to have such repeated exposures. The command wants a better sense of how each person is affected.
During the demonstration, a number of the Army special forces soldiers were wearing small monitors or sensors to help leaders better understand the level of blast pressure that troops are absorbing. The sensors allow officials to compare readings based on where troops were standing and how close they were to the blast.
The command is evaluating a number of blast sensors on the market, and some higher risk troops are already using them. Testing and other studies are continuing with the goal of getting them out across the force in the next couple of years.
According to Wilson and Col. Amanda Robbins, the command’s psychologist, there are distinct differences between acute traumatic brain injuries and what is called long-term blast exposure or blast overpressure.
Traumatic brain injuries, they said, are acute injuries that are relatively well documented and diagnosed. They said repetitive blast exposure needs more attention because there are lots of questions about the impact on the human brain. The damage is far more complex to diagnose and requires more study to establish links between the repetitive blasts and any damage or symptoms.
To aid the research, Special Operations Command is looking at doing more routine testing throughout service members’ careers. One test is a neurocognitive assessment that the command does every three years. Officials also want warfighters to be assessed if they have had a concussion or similar event.
The Defense Department more broadly will require cognitive assessments for all new recruits as part of an effort to protect troops from brain injuries resulting from blast exposures. New guidance released in August requires greater use of protective equipment, minimum “stand-off distances” during certain types of training, and a reduction in the number of people in proximity to blasts.
The other test being done by Special Operations Command is a more subjective comprehensive assessment that catalogs each person’s history of injuries or falls, even as a child. It’s done early to get a baseline.
Robbins said what they have seen is that new, younger operators and those with 20 or more years of experience are more amenable to doing the testing.
“The challenge is going to be in the midcareer operators who may be more concerned about self-reporting potentially having a perceived negative impact,” she said.
She added that the assessment is a way to take into account incidents that may not be in their medical records, so that problems can be identified early on and people can get treatment.
Donald Trump hints at exploring paths to a third term as United States president despite constitutional limits.
US President Donald Trump has said he is “not joking” about seeking a third term in office, which is barred by the United States Constitution.
Speaking in a phone interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump directly addressed speculation over a potential third term, saying, “No, I’m not joking. I’m not joking,” but added, “It is far too early to think about it.”
“There are methods which you could do it, as you know,” he said, without elaborating on potential legal or political avenues.
The US Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two four-year terms, whether consecutive or not.
The 22nd Amendment says that “no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice”.
Trump was asked in the NBC interview about a scenario where his running mate, Vice President JD Vance, could assume office before stepping aside to allow him to take over. Trump acknowledged the possibility, stating, “That’s one” approach.
“But there are others, too,” he added, without elaborating further.
‘We’re working on it’
Overturning the 22nd Amendment would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the 50 US states.
Trump, who began his second, non-consecutive term in January, has repeatedly alluded to extending his time in office.
Some of his allies have also floated the idea of keeping him in power beyond 2028, while Trump himself has occasionally teased about the possibility, often in ways that taunt his political opponents.
If he were to pursue another term in the 2028 election, Trump, who was the oldest president to be inaugurated in the US in January 2025, would then be 82 years old.
The precedent of a two-term limit dates back to 1796, when George Washington voluntarily stepped down after two terms.
This tradition remained largely unchallenged for more than 140 years until Franklin D Roosevelt won a third term in 1940 amid the Great Depression and World War II. Roosevelt died months into his fourth term in 1945, prompting Congress to formalise term limits with the 22nd Amendment in 1951.
Longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon suggested in a March 19 interview with NewsNation that Trump may seek re-election in 2028.
“We’re working on it,” Bannon said, adding that his team was exploring ways to reinterpret the definition of term limits to facilitate a third term.
Note: Map shows the area with a shake intensity of 4 or greater, which U.S.G.S. defines as “light,” though the earthquake may be felt outside the areas shown. The New York Times
A major, 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific Ocean on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake prompted a brief “Tsunami Threat” for Tonga.
Preliminary reports from the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said tsunami waves were possible for coastlines within about 190 miles of the earthquake’s epicenter, including those on Tonga. The system issued an all-clear notice about an hour later, after a tsunami would have struck had one materialized.
Tsunamis are a series of long waves caused by a large and sudden displacement of water in the ocean, usually from a large earthquake on or below the ocean floor. Tsunamis radiate in all directions from the epicenter and can cause dangerous coastal flooding and powerful currents that can last for hours or days.
The temblor happened at 1:18 a.m. Tonga time about 49 miles southeast of Pangai, Tonga, data from the U.S.G.S shows.
U.S.G.S. data earlier reported that the magnitude was 7.1.
As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.
Aftershocks in the region
An aftershock is usually a smaller earthquake that follows a larger one in the same general area. Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.
Quakes and aftershocks within 100 miles
Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.
When quakes and aftershocks occurred
Source: United States Geological Survey | Notes: Shaking categories are based on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. When aftershock data is available, the corresponding maps and charts include earthquakes within 100 miles and seven days of the initial quake. All times above are Tonga time. Shake data is as of Monday, March 31 at 2:33 a.m. Tonga time. Aftershocks data is as of Monday, March 31 at 8:04 a.m. Tonga time.
Pope Francis publicly acknowledged that this Lenten season is a time of healing for his soul and body.
On Sunday, the Vatican released the text of Francis’ prepared Sunday Angelus prayer. It is the seventh straight Sunday that his illness has prevented him from delivering the blessing from a window over St. Peter’s Square as usual.
“Dearest friends, let us live this Lent as a time of healing, all the more as it is the Jubilee,” Francis said. “I too am experiencing it this way, in my soul and in my body.”
“That is why I give heartfelt thanks to all those who, in the image of the Saviour, are instruments of healing for their neighbour with their word and their knowledge, with kindness and with prayer,” he continued. “Frailty and illness are experiences we all have in common; all the more, however, we are brothers in the salvation Christ has given us.”
POPE FRANCIS’ DOCTORS CONSIDERED ENDING TREATMENT, SAID ‘THERE WAS A REAL RISK HE MIGHT NOT MAKE IT’: REPORT
Pope Francis leaves in a car after appearing at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he was being treated. (AP/Stefano Costantino)
His remarks then turned to world conflicts, with a focus on South Sudan, where he said “the war continues to claim innocent victims.”
“I urge the parties concerned in the conflict to put the safeguarding of the lives of their civilian brothers and sisters first; and I hope that new negotiations will begin as soon as possible, capable of securing a lasting solution to the crisis,” he said. “May the international community increase its efforts to address the appalling humanitarian catastrophe.”
POPE FRANCIS MAKES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN FIVE WEEKS
Faithful and pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to follow on giant screens a live broadcast from Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, on Sunday, March 23, 2025, where Pope Francis made his first public appearance since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14 with bilateral pneumonia. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The 88-year-old pontiff is still recovering from a respiratory infection, according to the Holy See Press Office. He continues to be weaned off oxygen support during the day and night, and his blood levels are normal. However, his medical team has ordered a strict convalescence period of at least two months following his hospital release last week.
Francis has shown “a truly surprising improvement,” the doctor who coordinated the pontiff’s five-week hospitalization said Saturday.
Surgeon Sergio Alfieri speaks to journalists on Saturday, March 22, 2025, in the entrance hall of Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where Pope Francis has been treated for bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
“I find him very lively,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope at his apartment in the Santa Marta Domus on Wednesday, three days after his release from Rome’s Gemelli hospital. “I believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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