Sergeant Andrew Jennings has raised alarms over the risks Australian soldiers encounter daily during training, specifically from blast overpressure generated by their own weapons. The Carl Gustaf recoilless wherewithal, infamous for its extreme munificence, has recently been associated with patterns of psychosomatic infirmities on the part of troops. Instead, Jennings has been plagued by a host of alarming symptoms for over 10 years. Now, because of health concerns, he’s medically separating from the Defence Force.
As General Stuart recently testified, we know that blast overpressure can cause real damage to the brain. Recent discoveries have revealed definitive physical evidence of blast injuries in the brains of late Australian veterans. Soldiers around the country are getting busy with their state training exercises. New scientific studies show that with these exercises they experience invisible blast waves, which the new research shows creates significant inflammation and scarring in the brain.
The Impact of Blast Overpressure
Sergeant Jennings’ distinguished military career His passion was training young soldiers to effectively employ the full spectrum of heavy weapons like the Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle. After a while, he started to experience some distressing symptoms. “I would have a headache at the end of the day, I was feeling nauseous, all the classic signs of concussion,” he stated. This started over a decade ago and has only deteriorated since then.
The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide underscored the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries due to blast exposure among active-duty military personnel. As heartbreaking as it was, the report pointed out a tragic link between these injuries and higher suicide risk. The Commission’s suggestions to create a brain injury program would go a long way to fill these vital gaps.
Sergeant Jennings’s point of view is that the Defence Force could do much more to mitigate blast overpressure risk. He added that prior to the implementation of safety limits soldiers often fired over 100 rounds in a single day. They frequently did this as a way to dispose of excess or obsolete ammunition.
Safety Protocols and Oversight
Mr. Scanlan, who leads Vigil Australia, noted that Defence has been “studying blast overpressure” since 2010. They’ve done a number of other trials using blast gauges. He wrote passionately about the deadly hazards many service members were still not being protected from. This rings particularly true for those with training supervision responsibilities, such as Sergeant Jennings.
“That’s probably one of the high-risk groups that are often ignored in this, are those people supervising in training,” Scanlan remarked. He stressed the importance of leadership at the top level to hold themselves accountable to have the right safety practices in place.
“That’s the inconsistency… leadership is saying you can only fire seven. That’s not what’s happening on the ground.”
Call for Action and Reform
The shameful situation has led to ongoing and urgent calls for reform within the Defence Force. Mr. Scanlan stressed that “100 per cent they’re not doing enough. They’re too slow. It’s a leadership issue. You could do something tomorrow.” She called for a sustained focus and sense of urgency around the need to adopt protective measures to save soldiers.
With passion and creativity, technical operator Joshua Whitty is having an outsized effect. He advocated for US units to replace cumbersome wooden barricades with defensible firing positions, following the advice laid out in the training manuals of the time. He addressed the need to adjust protocols as new research comes out about the effects of blast overpressure.
Sergeant Jennings continues to advocate for change. “Well, I want it done yesterday!” he shouted. He continued to urge the department to act quickly and save the lives of today’s and tomorrow’s soldiers from the perils of blast overpressure.
