Corps mandates predeployment TBI test

[unhappycamper]

Corps mandates predeployment TBI test
By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 5:56:18 EST

Marines readying for deployment to war zones must now undergo a battery of computerized tests assessing whether they have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

“Baseline predeployment neurocognitive testing” will be conducted four to six months before a deployment, officials said in a Nov. 14 Marine administrative message, 633/08. The screening assesses whether a Marine is mentally able to deploy and gives the Corps test results that doctors can refer to if that person later is involved in a vehicle accident, explosion or other violent action that can impact brain function.

The screening consists of a series of computerized tests known as the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric, which the Defense Department said in July would be required of all service members prior to deployment. Developed in 1990, it has been used by the U.S. military for years, but was never put in place as a Corpswide program, said Navy Capt. Mark Olesen, the Corps’ deputy medical officer.

“We’ve been using it in sick-call settings, but if you don’t know where the individual was before the event, the test results afterwards may have somewhat limited value,” Olesen said.

In most cases, the tests will be administered by a team of two contractors who will bring a network of 24 laptop computers and a centralized computer server with them to Marine units, Olesen said. About 450 Marines can take the test per day in a typical test setting, with the average test taking 20 minutes.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/12/marine_screenings_120108w/%2e

[rocktivity]

1. Sounds like an insurance dodge

Since flunking the test will not prevent a soldier from being deployed, I have to wonder if its real purpose is justification for withholding VA benefits on the grounds that the injury is a pre-existing condition.

:headbang:
rocknation