Matthew Reilly's roundabout journey to college took a painful, decisive turn after a nighttime crash in Iraq. In 2008, six months into his first combat tour with the Army, Mr. Reilly and nine soldiers from his platoon were pursuing an insurgent when their armored fighting vehicle slammed into a roadblock. It was 2 o'clock in the morning, and fresh…

More than 1.6 million American service members have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). As of December 2008, more than 4,000 troops have been killed and over 30,000 have returned from a combat zone with visible wounds and a range of permanent disabilities. In addition, an…

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been notable for the high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that have been incurred by the troops. Visual impairments often occur following TBI and present new challenges for rehabilitation. We describe a neurological vision rehabilitation therapy that addresses the unique needs of patients with vision…

This article is the first of a multi-part series on traumatic brain injury (TBI). Historically, TBI has received very limited national public policy attention and support. However since it has become the signature injury of the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, TBI has gained the attention of elected officials, military leaders,…