If you lost a spouse, parent, or family member who served in a combat arms or heavy weapons role, and you believe their service contributed to their death, you are not alone, and the science has moved further than the system has yet acknowledged.
This page exists to put a clinical document in your hands that you can bring to a doctor: a Survivor Request for Independent Medical Opinion – Cause of Death, written specifically for occupational blast overpressure exposure (OBOE). It is provided at no cost.
A list of military occupational specialties currently recognized by the Department of Defense can be found here:
On August 8, 2024, the Deputy Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum titled “Department of Defense Requirements for Managing Brain Health Risks from Blast Overpressure,” establishing DoD-wide policy for BOP risk management. Attachment 3 of that memorandum enumerates the occupational specialties across all service branches officially recognized as being at increased risk of BOP exposure. That complete roster is reproduced below, organized by service branch, and includes civilian equivalent occupational specialties where applicable.
Note: MOS 11C (Army Indirect Fire Infantryman / Mortarman) and Marine MOS 0341 (Mortarman) are captured within the mortar weapons systems listed in Attachment 1 of the same memorandum and are retained here consistent with the peer-reviewed research base reviewed throughout this document, which draws specifically on these populations.
ARMY (MOS)
13A Field Artillery Officer
13B Cannon Crewmember
13M MLRS/HIMARS Crewmember
11A Infantry Officer
11B Infantryman
11C Indirect Fire Infantryman (Mortarman) — mortar systems 60mm, 81mm, 120mm
12B Combat Engineer
12 Series Engineers Branch
19D Cavalry Scout
31 Series Military Police Branch
31B (SRT) Military Police (Special Reaction Team)
74 Series Chemical Corps
18 Series Special Operations Forces Operators
89 Series Explosives Ordnance Disposal
AIR FORCE (AFSC)
11H Rescue Pilot
13D Combat Rescue Officer (CRO)
13L Air Liaison Officer (ALO)
19ZXA Special Tactics Officer (STO)
31P Security Forces
32EXH Civil Engineering (assigned to EOD)
38E Engineering
3E2XX Pavements and Construction Equipment Specialists
3E8 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD)
3P Security Forces
3P0 Security Forces
MARINE CORPS (MOS)
0341 Mortarman — mortar systems 60mm, 81mm, 120mm
311 Rifleman
313 Light Armored Reconnaissance Marine
317 Scout Sniper
331 Machine Gunner
351 Infantry Assault Marine / Field Artillery Cannoneer
352 Anti-Tank Missile Gunner
367 Light Armored Reconnaissance Master Gunner
302 Infantry Officer (2ndLt to LtCol)
303 Light-Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Officer
306 Infantry Weapons Officer
370 Special Operations Officer
802 Field Artillery Officer
811 Field Artillery Cannoneer
930 Range Officer
1302 Combat Engineer Officer
1371 Combat Engineer
1802 Tank Officer
1803 Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) Officer
1834 Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) Crewmember
1867 M1A1 Tank Master Gunner
2305 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer
2336 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician
6177 Weapons and Tactics Crew Chief Instructor
6199 Enlisted Aircrew / Aerial Observer / Gunner
7212 Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) Gunner
8024 Combatant Diver Marine
8071 Special Operations Capability Specialist (SOCS)
NAVY (Rate / NEC)
717B Small Arms Marksmanship Instructor
718B Crew Served Weapons (CSW) Instructor
726A UDT/SEAL Candidate
758B Salvage / Construction Demolition Diver
775B Maritime Security
779B 25mm Machine Gun System (MGS) MK 38 MOD Gun Weapon System Technician
787A Naval Special Warfare Small Arms Organizational Level Maintenance
800G Individual Augmentation (IA) — Basic Combat Unit Member
803G Individual Augmentation (IA) — Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar (C-RAM)
804G Expeditionary Force — Combat Skill
810G Maritime Expeditionary Security Force (MESF) Coxswain
811G Maritime Expeditionary Security Force (MESF) Operator
819G Individual Augmentation (IA) — Military Transition Team / Iraq Assistance Group
820G GWOT IA/ILO Combat Training (NIACT) — Deployed
837A Naval Special Warfare (Combat Support)
853A Force Protection Boat Coxswain
854A Naval Special Warfare (Combat Service Support)
P01A Chief Master-At-Arms (CMAA)
P03A Harbor Security Patrol Leader
P04A Harbor Security Boat Training Supervisor (HSB TRASUP)
P10A Nuclear Weapons Security Specialist (NWSS)
P11A Physical Security Specialist (PSS)
V01A ACB-12 GCS MK 160 MODs 14–16 / EOSS MK 20 MOD 0 FC
V02A Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) Phalanx Block 1B Baseline 2 Technician
V020 Fire Controlman (FC) Combined “A” School
V030 Gunner’s Mate (GM) Combined “A” School (BL-1)
V031 Gunner’s Mate (GM) Combined “A” School (BL-0)
V15C FCGM
V18A CIWS MK-15 Block 11–14 Technician
V19A Phalanx Close-In Weapon System MK 15 MOD 11–14, 21, 22, and 25–28 Technician
W000 Mineman (MN) Apprentice Technical Training
1130 Unrestricted Line Officer — Special Warfare (SEAL) qualification
1140 Unrestricted Line Officer — Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Warfare Qualification
1180 Unrestricted Line Officer — student in training for Special Warfare qualification
1190 Unrestricted Line Officer — officer in training for EOD qualification
5100 Staff Corps Officer — Civil Engineering specialty
7150 Warrant Officer (Line) — Special Warfare Technician specialty
7170 Warrant Officer (Line) — Naval Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman
7200 Warrant Officer (Line) — Diving Officer specialty
7480 Warrant Officer (Line) — Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician specialty
Source: Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum, “Department of Defense Requirements for Managing Brain Health Risks from Blast Overpressure,” August 8, 2024, Attachment 3.
List is non-exhaustive and includes civilian equivalent occupational
What This Document Is For
Under federal law, a veteran’s death is considered service-connected when a service-related disability was either the principal or a contributory cause of death (38 C.F.R. § 3.312). This document supports a clinician in forming an independent medical opinion on that question — drawing on the longitudinal clinical research, the neurovascular and mechanistic literature, and the post-mortem neuropathological work that, taken together, establishes a documented evidentiary chain between blast overpressure exposure during service and the conditions that may have contributed to your loved one’s death.
The document includes references to the post-mortem research of Dr. Daniel Perl and colleagues at the Uniformed Services University, who in 2016 identified a distinct and previously undescribed pattern of brain scarring unique to blast-exposed service members – work that has since been corroborated by independent neuropathological studies.
What COWAC Provides — and What We Do Not
COWAC is a veteran-led 501(c)(4) advocacy organization. We are not an accredited Veterans Service Organization, and we do not file, prepare, or present individual claims before the VA or any other federal agency. What we provide here is free, evidence-based clinical reference material that you may choose to share with a treating clinician familiar with blast-related neurological injury.
If you intend to pursue VA dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) or related survivor benefits, please work with an accredited Veterans Service Organization or accredited claims agent. Any clinical fees associated with an Independent Medical Opinion are between you and the healthcare provider. COWAC charges nothing for this material.
Before You Request the Document
This is a clinical document, not a claim form. To use it, you will want to gather, where available:
- The decedent’s DD Form 214 or equivalent military separation document
- Certificate of Death
- Autopsy report and any post-mortem neuropathological examination, if one was performed
- The decedent’s military medical and personnel records
- Civilian clinical records relevant to the cause of death and any conditions that may have contributed
- Documentation of MOS, deployments, and weapons-system exposure where available
You may not have all of these, and that is normal. The document is designed to support a clinician’s analysis with the records that are available to you.
Step 1 — Request the Survivor IMO Document
The Survivor Request for Independent Medical Opinion — Cause of Death — OBOE is a fillable document you bring to a clinician. It is written as a letter from you to the doctor, includes a synthesis of the relevant peer-reviewed literature, references the federal cause-of-death standard at 38 C.F.R. § 3.312, and contains a structured request for a substantive medical opinion at the at least as likely as not standard the VA applies in adjudicating service connection.
To receive the document, please provide your name and email below. We will send it directly to your inbox along with practical guidance on how to use it.
Step 2 — Connect with the Cohort
The Cohort community on Facebook includes surviving spouses, family members, veterans, clinicians, and advocates. The conversations there are honest. If you would value being in contact with people who understand what you are going through, you are welcome.
Step 3 — Sign the Petition
Survivors are part of the population this advocacy is for. Adding your voice — and, if you choose, naming the person you lost — strengthens the case before Congress and the VA.
If you are in crisis, please call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you are a veteran, family member, or friend of a veteran, you may call or text 988 and press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.