The surveillance committee of the Chamber Presse La Marine on brain damage among aviators

First on Fox: The leaders of the Chamber’s supervisory committee put pressure on the navy to obtain answers on the prevalence of brain trauma among the airmen and the flight officers, accusing the service of not having fully understood or tackled the psychological toll of flight operations.

In a new letter to the secretary of the navy, John Phelan, the legislators asked for documents and data on brain damage, cognitive dysfunction and mental health problems in the fleet, warning that the navy has never conducted a complete investigation on the risks faced by the pilots.

“The Committee fears that the navy will not adequately deal with the underlying causes of traumatic brain lesions, cognitive dysfunctions and mental health problems affecting aviators and flight officers”, reads the letter of the surveillance president James Comer, R-ky., And the representative William Timmons, RS.C. foreign., And the representative.

The Congress requests more information on brain damage apparently associated with hunter pilots that operate at high speed. (Us Navy; Reuters)

“The lack of information on this issue also raises concerns about the adequacy of the information which is provided to the congress and the decision-makers concerning the health and well-being of our fighters,” he continued.

“It is essential that the navy takes all the measures necessary to identify the potential risks for the health facing aviators and flight officers.”

The letter required all “reports, statistical data, medical studies, situational assessments and substantial communications, including memorandums or January parts, relating to mental and physical health and / or suicide of the F-18 Aviator of January 1, 2023, to the present.”

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It specifically required information related to the cases of six different airmen, whose names have been expurgated.

The navy did not return a comment request before the deadline for publication.

Earlier this year, Comer and Timmons wrote by asking for information on a topgun secret project of the navy launched in 2024 to study the phenomena of brain lesions, called Project Odin.

“Airing aboard an aircraft carrier, it is literally a car accident. It is the equivalent force to sit in your aisle, in your car, and having a crane takes you to the second floor and dropping you,” said Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, a topun graduate and F / A-18 Fighter Pilot, told Fox News Digital this year. He said he was suffering from the brain damage examined by the project.

In a new letter to the Secretary of the Navy, John Phelan, the legislators asked for documents and data on brain damage, cognitive dysfunction and mental health problems in the fleet. (Song Kyung-Seok / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)

“The catapult blow, you go from zero to around 150, 200 miles per hour in a second to a second and a half. So, your brain is somehow shaken, you know, back and front.”

“As a fighter pilot, pulling GS, so I fought the jet on the verge of consciousness,” said Buckley, referring to the experience of gravitational traction pilots when the tight maneuver turns in a jet.

“I would merge with a villain in training, pulling seven, eight, nine GS. When you do that, the blood rushes from your head.”

Comer wrote earlier this year that the project, which would have been adopted without formal approval of the naval medical and air orders, “raises additional questions about the knowledge of the navy on potential problems and if it acts to mitigate these problems in full and efficiently.”

BUCKLEY, founder of the anti-suicide group of veterans No Fallen Heroes, said that the Navy likes to capitalize on the “cool” factor of flight jets popularized by films like “Top Gun”, but fails to warn pilots of risks associated with years of high-speed flights.

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A February New York Times report Detailed how a number of F / A-18 crew members Super Hornet have undergone brain damage after years of catapult take-off and dog fighting.

Symptoms included insomnia, anxiety, depression and SSPT type feelings.

Buckley remembers having felt confusion, oblivion and being rapid to anger – of the symptoms which he first attributed to the culture of the consumption of the navy. He said that many of those he had stolen alongside back and neck injuries.

“I remember having really been hard with myself.

“In 15 years of flying hunters, I lost three F-18 brothers to a suicide. “”

Many navy pilots continue to look for jobs in the commercial air transport industry, where they often do not disclose symptoms of brain damage suffering from applications.

Although the navy cannot avoid placing the aviators in the extreme conditions whose combat training requires, Buckley argued that the service had to make more to ensure that veterans receive appropriate care for the long -term pressure of work.

“”Soldiers Do an incredible job to train us to do quite horrible things to another human, “he said.

“But when they have finished with us, they do a fairly crazy job to transmit to us to be a human.”

He said he had fought the Veterans Department for years after classifying his injuries as not linked to the service.

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“One day, you go from an F-18 Hornet and having a secret secret authorization, the highest level of confidence of the government. And when you came out the next day, you are a liar, right?”