Traumatic Brain Injuries Are Reportedly Primary Wound Of Iran War

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) have reportedly become the dominant wound among American troops fighting in the war with Iran.

The vast majority of U.S. service members wounded in Operation Epic Fury sustained TBI-related injuries, Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson, told Task & Purpose. The military outlet reported that around 200 troops have been wounded in roughly three weeks of fighting, with about 180 returning to duty and 10 classified as seriously injured. Formal TBI diagnoses remain difficult to pin down in the immediate aftermath of an attack, Task & Purpose noted, because symptoms often take weeks to surface.

A U.S. official told ABC News that at least 140 of the 200-plus wounded suffered TBI-related injuries. Iran’s reliance on one-way attack drones and the concussive blasts they produce has fueled the surge across bases in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. (RELATED: American Service Members Killed By Iranian Retaliatory Strikes Welcomed Home)

“If they’re near a blast, there should be no doubt they have a TBI,” Dr. Jayna Moceri-Brooks, a researcher focused on combat brain injuries, told ABC News. “You can’t escape from blast overpressure … symptoms can be debilitating.”

Traumatic brain injuries are quickly emerging as the signature wound of the U.S. war with Iran so far, echoing a pattern of post-9/11 wars, according to a U.S. official. https://t.co/Yw612gSErt

— ABC News (@ABC) March 20, 2026

Veterans diagnosed with TBIs face nearly double the suicide risk compared to those without brain injuries, according to Department of Veterans Affairs data cited by ABC News.

The March 1 Iranian drone strike on a tactical operations center at Shuaiba port in Kuwait killed six service members and reportedly left dozens more with brain trauma, shrapnel wounds and burns. Roughly 30 troops remained hospitalized as of mid-March, spread across facilities in Germany, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio, CBS News reported.

More than 460,000 service members received TBI diagnoses between 2001 and 2023, ABC News reported, citing Veterans Affairs data. The Army did not authorize the Purple Heart for brain injuries until 2011, almost a decade into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.