Derek Schmidt

Kansas troops returning from the war in Iran could be suffering from brain injuries and PTSD.

U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt raised concerns about a high amount of concussive activity among deployed troops, especially Guardsmen.

Two Kansas National Guard units, the 190th Air Refueling Wing and the 130th Field Artillery Brigade, supported the war effort.

The military is tracking injuries and has budgeted $70 million for more research on the issue.

With the war in Iran apparently coming to an end, some Kansas soldiers and airmen deployed to the Middle East could be coming home with brain injuries.

That's what U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt, R-Kansas, indicated during an April 29 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee.

That hearing was about two months after the United State and Israel attacked Iran, and a few weeks after a ceasefire began. Since then, President Donald Trump has announced there is a peace agreement, but has threatened to "go back to bombing" Iran if the conditions of the preliminary deal are violated or if the countries fail to negotiate a long-term agreement.

Thirteen U.S. service members were killed in the war, and hundreds more were injured.

Schmidt asked defense secretary Pete Hegseth about injuries to troops.

"In talking with Kansans who either have been deployed or in support of folks who have been deployed," Schmidt said, "I am under the impression that there has been a particularly high — especially early in the operation, prior to the ceasefire — particularly high amount of concussive activity and that we might be well advised to be prepared when folks come home for concussive injuries, for combat related PTSD, perhaps at levels we we aren't expecting — at least those of us watching from the outside of the operation.

"Can you say anything either about that in particular or more generally about what types of health and post-combat related health issues we ought to be preparing for when folks come home from this operation in particular?"

Hegseth said, "All of that is tracked very closely," and the military's budget request includes "$70 million for more research on that."

"I would note that as it's tracked and identified, also 90% of those with injuries in this conflict have returned to duty," Hegseth said. "But that doesn't mean there couldn't still be a lingering effect, which is noted and will be continued to be tracked throughout."

Kansas has two National Guard units that supported the war, and Schmidt followed up to ask specifically about National Guard personnel.

Based at Forbes Field in Topeka, there's the 190th Air Refueling Wing of the Kansas Air National Guard. A publicly unknown number of the unit, which has more than 900 members, were deployed to the Middle East in early March.

The Kansas Army National Guard's 130th Field Artillery Brigade was also involved in the war, but that unit was already deployed to the area before the conflict started. The brigade is based in Manhattan and has subordinate battalions in Hutchinson, Hiawatha and Hays.

A spokesperson for the Kansas National Guard referred The Capital-Journal to U.S. Central Command when asked when the 190th will return from deployment and whether any Kansas guardsmen have been injured. CENTCOM didn't immediately respond.

During the war, Iran attacked military bases with missiles and drones. That included Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, which is a key hub for air refueling aircraft, where some KC-135 aircraft were reportedly damaged by Iranian strikes. The 190th ARW flies KC-135s.

"With respect particularly to Guard personnel who have been deployed and may, when they come back they return to their civilian roles," Schmidt said. "They may be in communities far from a military post. They may be in communities that don't have dedicated health care services that may be particularly focused on concussive damage or post-traumatic stress damage.

"Is there particular thought on things we ought to be doing to prepare to serve that population when those men and women come home?"

"I think the biggest one is identifying it up front, doing that testing up front, to identify what has occurred and then the ability to track those service members," Hegseth said. "I know as a frontline leader, that became part of my responsibility as well, tracking those who may be more susceptible to it, whether they have a formal network to address it or not.

"So definitely something we care about. Tricare, ensuring they have increased access in places where there aren't military facilities is an important part of it."

At that same hearing, Schmidt also voiced frustration with the military for not being more forthcoming with information about whether Kansans were involved in an incident during Operation Epic Fury.

"There was some publicly reported activity a while back that I had reason to think might involve some Kansas service personnel," Schmidt said. "We didn't know from the public reporting. We had simply been trying to find out whether our folks were involved or not.

"We finally did get an answer. It took about four weeks. And when we got it, it was for the most part everything we read in the press, with one exception."

While Schmidt did not specify during the hearing, he appeared to be referencing the collision of two KC-135 air refueling tankers in Iraq. None of the planes or crew involved were from the Kansas unit, but the military did not immediately share that information with the public.

"It's a bit unsatisfactory when we're just trying to do our job and figure out whether our folks are implicated and whether we need to be doing something to help them, their families or their folks back home," Schmidt said.