Campbell testing soldiers’ brains before tours

[unhappycamper]

Campbell testing soldiers’ brains before tours
By Kristin M. Hall - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Sep 20, 2007 6:53:21 EDT

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Before they leave for Iraq, thousands of troops with the 101st Airborne Division line up at laptop computers to take a test: basic math, matching numbers and symbols, and identifying patterns. They press a button quickly to measure response time.

It’s all part of a fledgling Army program that records how soldiers’ brains work when healthy, giving doctors baseline data to help diagnose and treat the soldiers if they suffer a traumatic brain injury — the signature injury of the Iraq war.

“This allows the Army to be much more proactive,” said Lt. Col. Mark McGrail, division surgeon for the 101st. “We don’t want to wait until the soldier is getting out of the Army to say, ‘But I’ve had these symptoms.’”

The mandatory brain-function tests are starting with the 101st at Fort Campbell and are expected to spread to other military bases in the next couple of months. Commanders at each base will decide whether to adopt the program.

The tests provide a standard, objective measurement for each soldier’s reaction time, their short-term memory and other cognitive skills. That data would be used when the soldiers come home to identify mild brain trauma that can often go unnoticed and untreated.

One veterans group wants to ensure that the Army doesn’t use the results to deny treatment by claiming that soldiers’ problems came from pre-existing conditions.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/09/ap_braintesting_070920/

[Maq]

1. enlistment Waivers for intelligence

Are they gonna keep track of how many Dummies they have in Iraq.

This data can be used in many ways.

[rakeeb]

2. it's not an intelligence test

It's a reaction time test. How fast can you click a mouse in response to an asterisk flashing on screen and how fast can you determine if the solution to a single digit addition or subtraction problem is greater than or less than 5. The response times are recorded in milliseconds, which provides a decent baseline to detect even the slightest indicators of mild trauma.

Or I guess they could use the data to discriminate against those who cannot right-click as fast as they can left click....