Members of the US House of Representatives called on the Department of Defense to study the long-term brain health of naval aviators and establish a brain health program.

Research into traumatic brain injury (TBI) dates back at least to the 1870s, when British physician James Crighton Brown chronicled the dangers of repeated concussions. In the past two decades, much focus has been on athletes, notably football players, and efforts have been undertaken to reduce the risks of TBI.

Since 2000, more than 500,000 service members have been diagnosed with a TBI driven largely by IED blasts, heavy weaponry training, and improved battlefield survivability.

Experts say the US military needs to do more to protect special operations forces as they face high rates of blast exposure. Now lawmakers say the US Navy needs to do more to protect its aviators from TBI.

“Naval aviators and flight officers (which include rear seat crew on an F/A-18) operate under extreme and repeated physical stress from aerial maneuvers and the sudden acceleration of aircraft carrier catapult launches. Yet, the Navy has not determined whether these activities contribute to cumulative brain injury,” the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said in a newly published report.

The committee began an investigation in February 2025 following a report from The New York Times that the US Navy had begun a confidential program that studied the risks of brain injuries from flight operations. The program was dubbed “Project Odin’s Eye,” and it studied F/A-18 Super Hornet aviators specifically.

The lawmakers warned that US Navy officials had been alerted to mental health concerns, including suicides within the F/A-18 community, but failed to launch a formal investigation. No comprehensive study has been conducted, and the current healthcare system detects only acute injuries but may fail to address long-term damage.

“Medical policies are built to respond to identifiable incidents, not to track gradual, career-long brain stress,” the report noted.

Moreover, “naval aviation culture” may also lead aviators to underreport symptoms or avoid care altogether, for fear of losing flight status. The current treatments are related to managing stress, “not understanding the physiology of it.”

The report further warned that while the system “is well-equipped to treat injuries once they are diagnosed,” it is currently “poorly structured to understand or prevent risks developing over time.” The result is that the US Navy needs to do more to determine if aviators are at risk of long-term brain injuries.

The lawmakers also said Project Odin’s Eye was not effectively employed to determine the risks the aviators are facing.

Project Odin’s Eye was initiated after three career US Navy aviators who flew the Super Hornet died by suicide. Yet, it seems that few in the naval aviation community even knew of the seriousness of the issue until The New York Times report was published in December 2024.

The US Navy has indicated from its own findings that there has been no significant increase in diagnosed neurological conditions among the aviator community compared to other sailors.

“The Navy’s internal approach has not fully aligned with these emerging concerns. Its policies and medical guidance focus heavily on event-driven injury detection, such as concussions tied to crashes or specific incidents,” the lawmakers’ report warned, adding, “The approach lacks mechanisms to systemically track or study cumulative brain stress across a Navy pilot’s career.”

The lawmakers called for Congress to mandate a “longitudinal brain health study of naval aviators,” and for the Pentagon to establish a dedicated aviator brain health program. The report also called for the Department of Defense to reform policies to reduce stigma and barriers to care.

Still, such changes may come slowly within the community. Aviators will likely continue to downplay symptoms so they can remain in the cockpit.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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