US House Oversight Committee leaders are demanding answers from the US Navy about traumatic brain injuries among aviators, accusing the service of neglecting pilots’ health.
In a letter to Navy Secretary John Phelan, lawmakers requested documents on brain injuries, cognitive dysfunction and mental health issues affecting F-18 pilots, warning that no full investigation has been carried out.
Committee chair James Comer and Rep. William Timmons, who leads the Military and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee, said the lack of data raises concerns over what Congress is being told about military personnel welfare.
The letter stated: “The Committee is concerned that the Navy is failing to adequately understand or address the underlying causes of traumatic brain injuries, cognitive dysfunction, and mental health issues affecting aviators and flight officers.
“It is critical that the Navy take all necessary steps to identify the potential health risks facing aviators and flight officers.”
The lawmakers asked for all reports, statistical data, medical studies, situational assessments and communications – including memoranda or email attachments – relating to F-18 aviator mental and physical health and suicide, covering January 2023 to the present.
The Navy did not comment before publication.
Earlier this year, Comer and Timmons also sought details about Project Odin, a secret Navy TOPGUN initiative launched in 2024 to study pilot brain injuries.
Reports suggest the project began without formal approval from Navy Medical and Air Commands.
Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, a TOPGUN graduate and F/A-18 fighter pilot who suffers from brain injuries, described the physical toll of carrier operations.
He said: “Landing aboard an aircraft carrier, it’s literally a car crash. It’s the equivalent force of sitting in your driveway, in your car, and having a crane take you up to the second storey and dropping you.
“The catapult shot, you go from zero to about 150, 200 miles an hour in a second to a second and a half. So your brain’s kind of being jarred, you know, back and forward.”
Pilots also face extreme gravitational forces – or G-forces – during combat manoeuvres, which drive blood away from the brain.
Buckley said: “As a fighter pilot, pulling Gs, so I would fight the jet on the edge of consciousness.
“I’d merge with a bad guy in training, pull seven, eight, nine Gs. When you do that, the blood rushes out of your head.”
A February New York Times report detailed how F/A-18 Super Hornet crew members suffered brain injuries after years of catapult launches and dogfighting training, with symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, depression and PTSD-like effects.
Buckley, founder of the veterans’ anti-suicide group No Fallen Heroes, recalled confusion, forgetfulness and sudden anger – symptoms he first blamed on drinking culture.
Many pilots also developed back and neck injuries.
He said: “I remember really being hard on myself, like. Well, what is wrong with you, man? You’re a fighter pilot. You’re on top of the world. What’s wrong with you? So that would cause its own spiral.”
“In 15 years of flying fighters, I’ve lost three F-18 brothers to suicide.”
Many Navy pilots applying for commercial airline jobs often fail to disclose brain injury symptoms on medical forms.
Buckley argued the service must improve veteran care for the long-term effects of combat training.
He said: “The military does an incredible job of training us to do some pretty awful things to another human.
“But when they’re done with us, they do a pretty crappy job of transitioning us back to being a human.”
He said he fought the Veterans’ Affairs Department for years after it ruled his injuries were not service-related.
“One day you go from flying an F-18 Hornet and having a top-secret clearance, the highest level of trust of the government. And when you’re out the next day, you’re a liar, right?”
