House Oversight Committee Injects Navy Brain Injury to the Navy

First on Fox: Leaders of the House Oversight Committee urged the Navy about answers to the rate of brain injuries for pilots and flight officials, alleging that psychological losses from flight operations were not fully understood or addressed.

In a new letter to Navy Secretary John Phelan, lawmakers demand documents and data in the fleet regarding brain injuries, cognitive dysfunction and mental health issues, warning that the Navy has never conducted a comprehensive investigation into the risks faced by pilots.

“The committee is Worry about the Navy The root causes of brain injuries, cognitive dysfunction, and mental health issues that affect pilots and flight officials are not fully understood or addressed. ”

“The lack of information on this issue has also raised concerns about the adequacy of Congress and policymakers’ information on the health and welfare of our fighters,” it continued.

“It is crucial that the Navy takes all the necessary steps to identify the potential health risks faced by pilots and flight officers.”

The letter requires all “reports, statistics, medical research, situational assessments, and substantive communications, including memorandums or email attachments, to the mental and physical health of the F-18 pilot and suicides starting January 1, 2023.”

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It specifically requests information related to the cases of six different pilots who have been edited.

The Navy did not return a request for comment before the release deadline.

Earlier this year, Comer and Timmons wrote about the secret Navy Topgun project launched in 2024 to study brain damage, called the Odin Project.

“Arriving on the landing on the aircraft carrier, it’s actually a car accident. It’s sitting in the driveway, the equivalent force on the car and having the crane take you into the second story and throw you away.” Tell Fox News Numbers Earlier this year. He said he suffered a brain injury that was reviewed by the project.

In a new letter to Navy Secretary John Phelan, lawmakers request documents and data in the fleet regarding brain injuries, cognitive dysfunction and mental health problems. (Song Kyung-Seok/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“Chepulser shoots, you go from zero to about 150 miles, one second to one and a half seconds.

“As a fighter pilot, pull the GS, so I’ll fight the jets at the edge of consciousness,” Whits said, referring to the gravity pull pilot experience when maneuvering tight turns on the plane.

“I’ll merge with a bad guy in training, pulling seven, eight, nine GS. When you do that, blood flows out of your head.”

Comer wrote earlier this year that the project was reportedly adopted without formal approval from the Navy’s Medical and Aviation Commander, “another issues of the Navy’s understanding of potential issues and whether a comprehensive and effective approach is being taken to mitigate these issues.”

Buckley, founder of veteran anti-suicide group No Fallen Heroes, said the Navy likes to take advantage of the “cool” factor of flying jets to become popular with movies like “Top Gun” but fails to warn pilots about the risks associated with multi-year high-speed flights.

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February New York Times Report Details how many F/A-18 Super Hornet crews suffer brain injuries after years of ejection takeoff and training.

Symptoms include insomnia, anxiety, depression, and PTSD-like sensations.

Barkley recalls being confused, forgetful and quickly angry—syndically attributed to the symptoms of the Navy’s drinking culture. He said he flew with many people with neck injuries.

He said: “I remember working really hard.

“Among the 15-year flight warrior, I lost three F-18 brothers to commit suicide. ”

Many naval pilots continue to seek work in the commercial airline industry, where they often fail to disclose symptoms of brain damage in their applications.

While the Navy cannot avoid the extreme conditions required to get pilots through combat training, Barkley believes the service must do more to ensure that veterans provide proper care for the long-term stress of long-term work.

“army Training us to do something really scary, to do something scary to another person,” he said.

“But when they did it with us, they did a really bad job of transitioning us back to humanity.”

He said he fought with the Department of Veterans Affairs for many years while classifying his injuries as service-related.

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“One day, you have the highest top secret license from flying the F-18 Bumblebee, and is the highest trust of the government.