US Coast Guard leaders have acknowledged the brain injury risk posed by repeated violent impacts while crews operate high-speed craft.
The service has pledged to improve how it identifies and prevents traumatic brain injury, or TBI, caused by repeated wave impacts and other concussive exposures.
Adm Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard, sent an email across the service recognising that the risk exists across the entire force.
“Our crews operate in a dangerous and unforgiving maritime environment,” Lunday said.
“The demands of our missions are immense. We owe it to you to protect your long-term health from the damage caused by relentless wave pound, blast overpressure and other concussive events that may cause injury.”
His message followed a New York Times report about research by 18-year-old Kayleigh Bonner, whose father, retired Coast Guard surfman Brett Bonner, died by suicide in February 2025.
After his death, Bonner questioned whether her father’s post-traumatic stress disorder and severe personality changes could have been caused by brain injury after 20 years piloting lifeboats through rough waters.
She surveyed active and retired surfmen as part of a high school research project.
Among 77 respondents, 60 per cent reported experiencing head injuries during their service and 58 per cent reported dizziness or confusion after an impact.
Most said they had not been examined by a medical professional after an injury.
Other reported symptoms included anxiety among 48 per cent of respondents, mood swings among 61 per cent and headaches or frequent ringing in the ears among 89 per cent.
Nearly all respondents reported living with constant pain following service.
Bonner’s work also highlighted existing research into Navy Special Warfare Combat Craft Crewmen, who operate high-speed boats.
A 2025 study by researchers at the Uniformed Services University involving a crewman with severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, suggested the neurodegenerative disease had been promoted by years of high-speed boat impacts with waves.
That same year, an information paper from the Military Health System’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence found that crews operating high-speed boats were exposed to hull impacts caused by wave-slamming.
It said this exposure increased the risk of lower back and neck injuries, chronic pain and head injuries.
Recommendations included improved seating, a shock-monitoring system and head and neck support devices.
A Navy Inspector General report in March 2026 found Naval Special Warfare Command was working to measure the combined impact of high-speed acceleration and blast overpressure on brain health but had not yet implemented recommendations intended to prevent trauma.
Only in recent years has the military begun to acknowledge the effects of repeated low-level blast exposure on service members’ brain health, focusing primarily on the dangers of firing heavy weapons.
A Navy study from 1994 found crews experienced impacts above 25g and reached 15g even in moderate seas.
During routine training, personnel experienced hundreds of impacts above 2g, which the report said exceeded Coast Guard recommended limits.
The report said: “The consequences of this unique occupational exposure are not well defined. Informal observations of Navy Special Warfare personnel suggest that high-speed boat operators/passengers do experience a degradation in both physical and mental performance capabilities. … However, objective information detailing the effect of prolonged [exposure] does not exist.”
While measures of the effects of high-speed impact exposure on crews are still lacking, both the Navy and Coast Guard are now openly acknowledging the risks.
Lunday said the Coast Guard had already begun work on the issue.
“In April, I directed a service-wide Brain Health Initiative to improve how we prevent, recognise and treat brain injuries,” he said.
“That includes training crews and supervisors on how to recognise brain injuries and encouraging our people to come forward and report symptoms indicating potential injuries.”
He added: “We need leaders at every level to ensure our people are aware of potential brain injury symptoms, get medical attention without hesitation or fear of stigma, and receive proper medical care.
“If you or a teammate are concerned you may have a potential brain injury, please tell your supervisor and immediately seek medical care.”
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