If you served in a combat arms or heavy weapons role and you are living with neurological symptoms – cognitive difficulties, persistent headaches, mood changes, memory problems, sleep disruption – your service history is clinically relevant. Your symptoms are not in your head.
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 specialties. The Space Force was not listed in the original attachment.
This page exists to put three things in your hands:
- A clinical document you can bring to your doctor,
- A community of more than 3,000 fellow Cohort members
- A petition that helps Congress hear from the population this issue is about.
What COWAC Provides — and What We Do Not
COWAC is a veteran-led 501(c)(4) advocacy organization. We are not a claims agent, 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 your treating provider and your accredited VA representative.
Any clinical fees associated with an Independent Medical Opinion are between you and your healthcare provider. COWAC charges nothing for this material and receives nothing in return for its use.
Step 1 — Request the Independent Medical Opinion (IMO) Document
The Patient Request for Independent Medical Opinion — Occupational Blast Overpressure Exposure is a fillable PDF you bring to a clinician familiar with blast-related neurological injury. It is written as a letter from you to your doctor. It includes a synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature — Belding (2021, 2023), Woodall (2021), Hunfalvay (2022), Kilgore & Hubbard (2024), Martindale (2025) — and a structured request for a medical opinion at the “at least as likely as not” standard the VA uses in adjudicating service connection.
Before you download, please understand:
This is a clinical document, not a claim form. To use it well, you will want to have available your military service and personnel records (including your DD-214 or equivalent) and your relevant clinical records. Your clinician will review those alongside the literature summary and form their own independent opinion. COWAC does not direct that opinion.
To receive the IMO document, please provide your name and email below. We will send the fillable PDF directly to your inbox, along with a brief note on how to use it.
COWAC will not sell, share, or trade your contact information. See our Privacy Policy.
Step 2 — Join the Cohort
More than 3,000 veterans, service members, family members, clinicians, and advocates are already part of the Cohort community. The conversations there are honest — about symptoms, about claims experiences, about what is and is not working. If you have served in a high-risk MOS or you love someone who has, you belong there.
Step 3 — Sign the Petition
Every credible voice that joins this effort strengthens the case before Congress and the VA. The petition is one of the most direct ways to add yours.
A Note on What Comes Next
Once you have the IMO document, the next step is yours. You may want to:
- Identify a clinician familiar with blast-related neurological injury – your VA primary care provider, a private neurologist, or a clinician affiliated with a TBI program.
- Gather your service and personnel records (DD-214 or equivalent) and your relevant clinical records.
- Bring the IMO document, your records, and any specific symptoms you want evaluated to your appointment.
- If you choose to pursue VA service connection, work with an accredited Veterans Service Organization or claims agent. COWAC does not provide claims representation.
If you are in crisis, please call or text the Veterans Crisis Line at 988, then press 1.