Extensive Artillery Use Against ISIS Caused Unforeseen Cognitive Damage to US Troops

Investigation reveals US military's intensive artillery strategy against ISIS from 2016 to 2017 resulted in severe mental and physical disorders among American troops; overlooked injuries and inadequate medical support aggravate the crisis.

• A secret US offensive strategy heavily depended on artillery fire to defeat ISIS in 2016 and 2017, leading to unexpected mental and physical health issues among the American troops who conducted the firing.
• Troops who fired excessive numbers of artillery rounds against ISIS developed problems such as mental confusion, physical discomfort, nightmares, panic attacks, depression, and hallucinations, posing challenges to military medical support.
• Exposed to thousands of high-explosive shells, some artillery troops have committed suicide or attempted to due to severe mental disorders following their return from the battlefield.
• Though the troops underwent screenings for post-traumatic stress disorder and signs of traumatic brain injuries, the tests failed to spot the kind of unexpected injuries caused by the blasts from the artillery they fired.
• The Pentagon has been legislated to measure blast exposure and develop protection protocols for troops, but the rules have yet to come into effect. The new safety guidelines seem not to be widely known or implemented among Marine and Army artillery units.

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