Don’t keep that near-miss – or repeated - blast off your medical record

I concur with all this. I have to also think that behind an M-2 or Mk-19 might not be much but beside either, or mortars/arty, would be qualifying blasts. Hadn’t thought about shoot houses though.

The issue that I encountered was that I was the only medic on scene when I was blown up back in Iraq nearly 20 years ago. No PH due to no visible external injuries, no one evaluated me in the days after the blast, but I had a concussion and brutal headache that lingered a few weeks after that blast.

Took VA about 3.5 years to recognize the TBI and place it in my records even though the blast was documented during my post-deployment physical. I experience a lot of those symptoms mentioned nowadays. It's not fun.

Absolutely agree with you especially on something you said-getting things documented in your file is everything.
When it comes to getting care or VA benefits later on, if it’s not in your file, it’s like it never happened. The VA puts a lot of weight on service medical records. If there’s no mention of the, symptoms, or issues while you were still in uniform, it becomes a lot harder to prove that what you're dealing with now is service connected. That one quick visit to medical, that note in your record, or even just telling your doc about what happened it can make a difference later.
Now, I get it, there’s always that fear that going to medical might hurt the career. And in some cases, it could have an impact but here’s the truth, if something is affecting your body or your mind, it’s already affecting your performance, whether it’s documented or not. You might be protecting your current role by staying quiet, but you're putting your future self ,your health, benefits at risk.
Personally ,I think just put it on record. It doesn’t hurt the file to have that documentation; it only helps. Think of it as a safety net. Whether you’re filing a claim or just need care later, that paper trail is gold.

Well that's just a kick in the teeth, to find out 55 years later this condition even exists! That must be a joke, Documentation? Man, I could write a book of every incident of getting my bell rung during Vietnam. following a APC that hit a road mine came to later, bell rung, medic: you're ok? just shake it off! Ears rang for 2 days. dang! No computer in the bush, better yet no such thing as, only made a document (pencil and paper) if dust off / hospital was involved. Live action, fired a law in prone, left ear drum busted, deaf as a post for a week, oh but medic supplied cotton balls to stuff in ear. Later field aid station DR ? reply : " Don't worry it will heal itself in a few weeks", where's the documentation? On a note pad!. Lost my hearing in that ear 45 years later, but the computer was down. (joke). Eyewitnesses? Was in a vehicle bumming a ride to base camp, have no clue who with. There goes that documentation. Ever been 50 ft directly in front of a 175mm while in a perimeter bunker all night, several times? Once injured by incoming rounds required hospital treatment, Drs made note in my file to allow for a profile "no prolonged sitting, standing , running or walking" till ETS 6 months later. Returned to US, required to have exam by VAMC in Memphis to access my disability, examination DR response was," I was deformed", I asked if deformed how the hell was I inducted into the military? That's just a brief tale of my 45 year battle with the VA to get help. Not to mention eye injury in VN and later blind in one eye, Sorry, we don't have the required documentation for that, must have lost that record on the medic's note pad. Oh! Forgot, The first 5 years after I ETS, was treated at the VAMC Hospital in Memphis, averaged 3-4 <> visits per month, 10 years later due to worsening symptoms, vision, skin rot from Agent Orange, (5 documented areas exposed to AO during operation Ranch Hand), with the help of Congressman Pat Williams (1989) discovered all records, documentations of the prior treatments At the VAMC Hospital were DESTROYED. RE: BS, Director testified before Congressional Hearing on my behalf, "That was their Policy after 5 years of no contact with the Veteran to destroy their records". Duh... moved to another state, another VAMC care. At 77, still gets me going on the subject. Presently, still fighting the system. Good luck.

Great information for the combat types of the newer generation.
Those of us (getting fewer by the day) of the Viet Nam war, are getting this a bit late.
Concussive events were just something that came with the job. No one thought that a crash and burn jump that knocked you out for a couple of minutes was an event worth noting if you came to and got up. Firing six to eight hundred rounds from your M-60 in a fire-fight, or a claymore incorrectly set up that busted your ear drum in an ambush and stung your body all over, was not an issue, especially since you could still move and be affective. Totally different mind set back in the day....

I was exposed to a fair amount of concussive force in the early 80's "Peacetime Army". Firing the 90mm recoiless rifle was eye opening to the power of concussive force. Anyone wearing a watch while firing it from a bunker ended up with a watch with the crystal blown off.
Then there were trips to the demo range. Our training was also heavily tilted to urban warfare. Our urban warfare training site was concrete buildings. Any training explosives used inside magnified the noise and concussion from them. Then going training in the West stood next to tanks firing on the range.
I kind of laugh at calling anytime post WW2 "peacetime". The early 80's were pretty active militarily and terror attacks on military bases and military members was very much in vogue. If you look at the in service fatality rates from the early eighties they are as bad as the worst years of post 911 war on terror figures.

Only when you’re in a fox hole.

Oh, don't worry. All of that is well-documented.

I definitely know what you mean. I had a severe TBI in the service. It was severe enough that I spent 3 days in ICU and another week in the hospital. While there I had a seizure severe enough that it stopped my heart. So mine was documented but I didn't get a copy of my medical records. A few years after my separation I had a minor headache injury. Not even hard enough to be hospitalized but I started having seizures daily. When I filed for my VA Disability they kept saying that my records burned in the fire of 1976 that destroyed a lot of military records. When I pointed out the facts that I was born in 1965 and was only 11 in 1976 and hadn't signed up until 1984 they said they didn't care. So I fought with them for 20 years before I could get my disability. We lost everything. We had to move in with family and the VA still didn't care. So I recommend for everyone to get a copy of your records especially your medical records before you are discharged!

Been fighting the VA for this for 25+ years, and they still just tell me no... I'm tired of it, and just quit trying.