WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), U.S. Senator Angus King questioned Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth about the Army’s plans to better protect servicemembers’ health from shockwave trauma produced by repeated explosive weapons used both in combat and in training. This conversation comes a week after Senator King cosponsored the bipartisan Warren-Ernst Blast Overpressure Safety Act, legislation designed to better protect servicemembers from the physical and cognitive dangers of shockwaves produced by explosive weapons.

Senator King’s line of questioning was informed by the analysis of the brain of the Lewiston shooter — who shot and killed 18 people last October — which showed evidence of severe traumatic brain injury. An Army reservist, he worked as an instructor at a hand grenade training range where it is believed he was repeatedly exposed to low-level blasts.

“I hope that you will continue research on the effects of blasts on your people. We had a tragedy in Lewiston, Maine last year. It turns out the fellow was a munitions test instructor. He experienced blast after blast after blast. Analysis of his brain indicates that it was severely damaged,” began Senator King.

So, please attend to that risk because it is now clearly contributing to the tragedy we had but also suicide and long-term damage to our soldiers,” said Senator King.

“Senator, I think a couple things on that. Starting this June, we will be doing a cognitive assessment on every new soldier coming into basic training,” replied Secretary Wormuth.

“To set a baseline,” said Senator King.

“To set a baseline, exactly, to where they are before they start getting exposed as they go do training,” responded Secretary Wormuth.

“High school football teams have been doing that for years, by the way. It’s nice that we’re now starting,” said Senator King.

“We are going to start doing it this June. Again, every single new soldier. We are also looking at what additional personal protective equipment we could provide to our folks, especially instructors and others who are routinely exposed to blast pressure,” said Secretary Wormuth. “We are looking into wearable gauges that would allow us to continuously track what soldiers are being exposed to. The challenge we have had to date is that we haven't been able to find sufficiently ruggedized gauges. So, we need to do some more work on that.

“If the gauges can’t stand the blast, what does that say about the soldier’s brain,” questioned Senator King.

“Well, it’s more that the gauges, as I understand, didn’t do very well in field environments,” said Secretary Wormuth. “But I know that special operations command has some wearable gauges on their Unit Prevention Leader (UPL) list and I think we will be looking at what they are hoping to invest in, but we are very attentive to the brain induced injury issues.”

“I am very delighted to hear that. Thank you very much and keep up that emphasis,” concluded Senator King.

Following the Lewiston shooting, Senator King has worked to increase mental health funding. In March, the entire Maine Delegation announced that the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (Maine DHHS) would receive $2,048,452 through the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Emergency Response Grant program (SERG). The funding is used for community mental health needs in the greater-Lewiston community, following the shooting that claimed the lives of 18 individuals and wounded 13 others. The delegation also sent a follow-up letter to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Army, Lieutenant General Donna W. Martin, to further press for a comprehensive review of the facts and events leading up to the October 25 mass shooting.

Senator King has also introduced legislation to save lives and protect 2^nd Amendment rights for all Maine people. The Gas-Operated Semiautomatic Firearm Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act addresses the lethal capacity weapons like the one used in Lewiston and most of the deadliest mass shootings across the country. More specifically, the bill protects communities from gun violence while safeguarding law-abiding Americans’ constitutional right to own a firearm for legitimate self-defense, hunting and sporting purposes.

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