COWAC curated content on Blast Overpressure Science & Legislation

By Timothy J. Grossman, President

Covering roughly May 29 – August 28, 2026

This quarter at a glance: 

The quarter’s central thread is congressional: the House passed both the FY2027 NDAA (with a funded VA Blast Overpressure Task Force and a $5M blast overpressure mitigation device pilot) and H.R. 9237, the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (Take Benefits from Veterans Act) the bill COWAC has opposed for its Section 108 sleep apnea/tinnitus rating cuts while supporting its Sections 310/311 blast overpressure provisions.

Both bills are now stalled in the Senate. On the research side, GAO confirmed this month what advocates have argued for years that the Pentagon’s 2024 brain-health monitoring mandate is running well behind on staffing, especially industrial hygienists needed to track exposure. And the suppressor-blowback story that emerged late in the quarter is the clearest sign yet that COWAC’s early skepticism about a suppressor-procurement angle in the NDAA was well-founded.

Science & Research

GAO confirms DoD’s blast-exposure monitoring program is under-resourced.
Cognitive-assessment completion rates by service: Army 87%, Air Force 81%, Navy just 59%. DoD cites a shortage of industrial hygienists as the “primary barrier” to exposure tracking; two recommendations issued, DoD concurred, resource assessment due Dec. 2026. Report GAO-26-107829, published Aug 18.
GAO-26-107829

New clinical-data study links blast exposure to anger, aggression, and violence.
VA Salt Lake City/University of Utah researchers used an LLM to analyze notes from 10,000 veterans (5,000 high-risk blast MOS vs. 5,000 lower-risk); high-risk veterans were 22% more likely to have documented anger/aggression/violence after controlling for combat exposure, PTSD, and TBI. “When the Fuse Is Lit,” Military Medicine, Aug 12.
military.com coverage

10th International Forum on Blast Injury Countermeasures (IFBIC) convened 150+ experts from 11 nations. Focus areas: blood-based biomarkers to quantify cumulative exposure, AI-driven computational modeling of blast effects, and next-generation PPE under DoD’s Warfighter Brain Health Initiative. Aug 14.
DHA/MRDC coverage

Counterpoint: a new study found blast exposure alone does not elevate blood biomarkers of neurodegeneration in service members/veterans with or without uncomplicated mild TBI (Lippa, Gill, et al., 2026) worth noting the science and methodology is not unanimous.
SAGE Journals

Monash University / Australian Defence Force launched a four-year study of low-level blast exposure in 300 new artillery recruits, using wearable pressure sensors, blood draws, and cognitive testing to establish safe exposure thresholds responding to Australia’s Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Announced July 31; an international effort worth tracking alongside U.S. research.
Monash University

Legislation & Policy

H.R. 9237 (Take Care of America’s Veterans Act/Take Benefits from Veterans Act) cleared a key House hurdle.
A Democratic motion to recommit aimed at stripping the Section 108 sleep apnea/tinnitus rating cuts failed narrowly, 210–211, on July 16. Sen. Blumenthal separately pushed to fund the bill from $75B in unobligated DoD funds instead of benefit cuts; that effort was blocked.

The favorable blast overpressure provisions (Sections 310/311) remain intact but bundled with the contested Section 108 language. Companion S.4744 was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar June 11 and has not yet received floor action.
Legis1 · Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (Blumenthal)

Senate Armed Services Committee marked up the FY2027 NDAA (18-9, June 11) with blast overpressure/brain-health language secured by Sen. Warren: a required DoD briefing on the feasibility of regular cognitive testing and blast overpressure/TBI logs, plus a briefing on brain-injury risk among fighter pilots, speedboat crews, instructors, and EOD technicians.
Sen. Warren press release

House passed its FY2027 NDAA (H.R. 8800), 216-212, July 22  including the $5M blast overpressure mitigation device pilot (Sec. 233) and a VA Blast Overpressure Task Force to align research agendas on sleep therapy, gut health, balance disorders, and nervous-system effects of blast exposure, running through Sept. 30, 2029. Remains stalled in the Senate.
military.com coverage

Suppressor “blowback” toxic-exposure advocacy surfaced late in the quarter, aimed squarely at the NDAA funding vehicle. The Special Operations Association of America is lobbying to fold suppressor blowback (hydrogen cyanide/ammonia exposure, linked to reduced sperm motility, sleep disorders, and Parkinsonism) into the same blast overpressure research and acquisition mandates carrying the Sec. 233 mitigation-device pilot with suppressor makers HUXWRX and Sig Sauer marketing blowback-reduction. Aug 25.
Military Times

Where things stand heading into Q4: Both major legislative vehicles carrying blast overpressure provisions the FY2027 NDAA and H.R. 9237/S.4744 passed the House but are stalled in the Senate. Watch for Senate floor action or a conference process this fall