War In Afghanistan Research Articles

Language of the SMO in its historical and cultural context

This article analyzes the language used in special military operations from a functional and semantic perspective. Nowadays, the language used by the military (the SVO as the special military operation in Ukraine) extends beyond the professional group and, thanks to media and social networks, has become understandable to most Russian speakers. The military jargon has a history dating back three hundred years, influenced by various military campaigns in which Russia and the USSR participated. The jargonisms from the early XX century, developed during the First World War, and the active development of military language in the twentieth century, are still present in modern military language. This is due to events such as the Great Patriotic War and the war in Afghanistan. Currently, there is a growing use of military terminology, alongside well-established slang terms that refer to aspects of military life, clothing, weapons, operations, orders, etc. New terms have emerged due to advancements in science and technology, as well as changes in the military-political situation. The lexemes and phrasemes used in the military sphere serve nominative, characterizing, emotional-evaluative, and gaming functions. These terms form thematic groups that make up the semantic field of military operations, based on the denotative meaning of slang words and their possible connotations. The language of the SVO reflects the historically formed and evolving military sociolect of the national language, primarily through Russian vocabulary and phraseological units, specialized terminology, and everyday slang. A small number of foreign terms, mainly related to weapons, have been adapted to fit the phonetic and grammatical rules of the Russian language. Overall, the language of the SMO used in military-political communication reflects the national and cultural characteristics of the military.

Intersection of CBRN, military forensic science, and counterterrorism

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan required that forensic science was used beyond the traditional law enforcement and criminal justice goals and applied to military operations. The 9/11 terror attacks in the United States (US) inspired further attacks in the Western World and highlighted the importance of national and international intelligence sharing for counterterrorism operations. Following the 9/11 attacks, anthrax was disseminated in the US mail system, demonstrating a successful modern use of biological agents. As a result, nations enhanced their Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) capabilities to prevent, prepare, respond, and recover from CBRN attacks but in the last decade, there has been a decrease in capabilities across military forensic science, counterterrorism, and CBRN. Recent changes in the global and strategic environment such as, the war in the Ukraine, the threat of grey zone conflicts (below the threshold of war) such as the conflict in the Middle East, and strategic competition, indicates international, national, state and local CBRN capabilities need to be reinvigorated in a world under digital transformations. There is a need for a harmonized approach to enhance the integration of military, law enforcement, and CBRN operations to support decision-making. In this paper, we look back to where we have come from and where we are now to make recommendations on where to from here for military forensic science and counterterrorism, including CBRN which intersects both of these systems.

Non-therapeutic laparotomies in military trauma (2009-2014).

Combat casualties are frequently injured in austere settings where modern imaging modalities are unavailable. Exploratory laparotomies are often performed in these settings when there is suspicion for intra-abdominal injury. Prior studies of combat casualties reported non-therapeutic laparotomy (NTL) rates as high as 32%. Given improvements in combat casualty care over time, we evaluated NTLs performed during later years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military personnel with combat-related injuries (6/1/2009-12/31/2014) who underwent exploratory laparotomy based on concern for abdominal injury (i.e. not performed for proximal vascular control or fecal diversion) and were evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (Germany) before being transferred to participating U.S. military hospitals were assessed. An NTL was defined as a negative laparotomy without substantial intra-abdominal injuries requiring repair. Characteristics, indications for laparotomy, operative findings, and outcomes were examined. Among 244 patients who underwent laparotomies, 41 (16.8%) had NTLs and 203 (83.2%) had therapeutic laparotomies (i.e. positive findings). Patients with NTLs had more computed tomography scans concerning for injury (48.8% vs 27.1%; p = 0.006), less penetrating injury mechanisms (43.9% vs 71.9%; p < 0.001), and lower Injury Severity Scores (26 vs 33; p = 0.003) compared to patients with therapeutic laparotomies. Patients with NTLs were also less likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (70.7 vs 89.2% for patients with therapeutic laparotomies; p = 0.007). No patients with NTLs developed abdominal surgical site infections (SSI) compared to 16.7% of patients with therapeutic laparotomies (p = 0.002). There was no significant difference in mortality between the groups (p = 0.198). Our proportion of NTLs was lower than reported from earlier years during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. No infectious complications from NTLs (i.e. abdominal SSIs) were identified. Nevertheless, surgeons should continue to have a low threshold for exploratory laparotomy in military patients in austere settings with concern for intra-abdominal injury.

Strategic Storytelling: Russian State-Backed Media Coverage of the Ukraine War

Abstract Strategic narratives help shape wars. In modern history, strategic narratives were used during the Cold War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War to justify military invasions and manipulate opponents. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was accused of weaponizing its state-backed media outlets to promote a pro-Russian version of the war. Consequently, Russian state-backed media faced a series of new sanctions from Western governments and technology companies. While some studies have sought to identify disinformation about the war, less research has focused on understanding how these stories come together as narratives, particularly in non-English language contexts. Grounded in strategic narrative theory, we analyze Russian state-backed media coverage of the Ukraine war across 12 languages. Using topic modeling and narrative analysis, we find that Russian state-backed media focused primarily on promoting identity narratives, forming an image that Russia is powerful, Ukraine is evil, and the West is hypocritical. Russian strategic narratives both converged and diverged across languages and outlets in ways that met Russia’s desired image and objectives in each region. This paper allows us to better theorize the evolving and transformative role of strategic narrative in Russian state-backed news media during times of conflict.

Upper Limb Function in People With Upper and Lower Limb Loss 8Years Postinjury: The Armed Services Trauma Outcome Study (ADVANCE) Cohort Study.

Upper limb (UL) disability in people with UL loss is well reported in the literature, less so for people with lower limb loss. This study aimed to compare UL disability in injured (major trauma) and uninjured UK military personnel, with particular focus on people with upper and lower limb loss. A volunteer sample of injured (n= 579) and uninjured (n= 566) UK military personnel who served in a combat role in the Afghanistan war were frequency matched on age, sex, service, rank, regiment, role, and deployment period and recruited to the Armed Services Trauma Rehabilitation Outcome (ADVANCE) longitudinal cohort study. Participants completed the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, scored from 0 (no disability) to 100 (maximum disability) 8years postinjury. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compared DASH scores between groups. An ordinal model was used to assess the effect of injury and amputation on DASH scores. DASH scores were higher in the Injured group compared to the Uninjured group (3.33 vs 0.00) and higher in people with lower limb loss compared to the Uninjured group (0.83 vs 0.00), although this was not statistically significant. In the adjusted ordinal model, the odds of having a higher DASH score was 1.70 (95% CI = 1.18-2.47) times higher for people with lower limb loss compared to the Uninjured group. DASH score was not significantly different between people with major and partial UL loss (15.42 vs 12.92). The odds of having a higher DASH score was 8.30 (95% CI = 5.07-13.60) times higher for people with UL loss compared to the Uninjured group. People with lower limb loss have increased odds of having more UL disability than the Uninjured population 8years postinjury. People with major and partial UL loss have similar UL disability. The ADVANCE study will continue to follow this population for the next 20years. For the first time, potential for greater long-term UL disability has been shown in people with lower limb loss, likely resulting from daily biomechanical compensations such as weight-bearing, balance, and power generation. This population may benefit from prophylactic upper limb rehabilitation, strength, and technique.

Migration crisis fueled by the challenges and uncertainties facing the new Afghanistan

After the US withdrew from Afghanistan by ending its 20-year occupation, the country was completely under the administration of the Taliban. However, at the end of this process, some uncertainties emerged such as what the political administration, social life and economic situation would be in Afghanistan, as well as how security and justice would be established. The Interim Government, formed by the Taliban, had to meet the expectations in the international arena while overcoming these uncertainties. However, it has also been understood that the integration of Afghanistan under the Taliban administration with the contemporary world will not be rapid. In addition, irregular migration to the West due to the long-lasting war in Afghanistan, and the effect of these increasing mass movements over time, the new uncertainties that emerged in Afghanistan, on irregular migration were also analyzed. Thus, it has been tried to determine whether irregular migration originating from Afghanistan can be prevented.

The Willing: Danish Soldiers on Endurance, Edgework, and Engagement in the Post-9/11 Era

ABSTRACT This article addresses the question of culture and subjective life by virtue of exploring soldierly self-fashioning in the context of military subjectification. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with Danish combat troops, this study anthropologically investigates contemporary soldiering as a struggle with ‘wills’. I examine individual soldiers’ mobilisation of ‘will’ to follow their desires for becoming ‘hard men’ and ‘true warriors’ in the contexts of the Danish armed forces and the US-led war in Afghanistan. I theorise volition in terms of bodily stretching, character fashioning, and emotional re-orientation and argue that overcoming is becoming. I show that soldierly becomings are fashioned through enactments of ‘will to pain’ across three hyper-masculinised modalities of soldiering: endurance (‘will to persevere’ through pain and suffering), edgework (‘will to risk’ a life or death in pain and suffering), and engagement (‘will to kill’ by inflicting pain and suffering and live with the moral consequences).

Clinical Trajectories of Comorbidity Associated With Military-Sustained Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Pre- and Post-Injury.

In the US military, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is of distinct importance, at home and in the deployed setting, and is considered a "signature injury of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq." Since 2000, an estimated 468 424 service members (SMs) have been diagnosed with at least one TBI. We examined the clinical trajectories of a group of 18 comorbidities before and after a military-sustained mild TBI (mTBI). Without making assumptions on causality, a group of 18 conditions often co-occurring with mTBI were identified through literature review and TBI subject matter workgroup consensus. Using data from Military Health System Data Repository, we identified SMs whose first lifetime military mTBI occurred between October 1, 2016, and October 30, 2019. Correlation analyses were used to determine the linear relationship between comorbidities prior to and after mTBI diagnosis. Changes in the period prevalence of comorbidities was calculated. We identified 42 018 SMs with a first lifetime military mTBI, of which 77.6% had at least one comorbidity. Identified SMs were mostly young (46.1% ages 18-24 years), male (81.4%), and White (64.1%). Up to 180 days prior to an mTBI, the most frequently identified conditions were sleep-related conditions (21.7%), headaches (19.4%), posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) (17.8%), anxiety disorders (11.3%), and cervicogenic disorders (eg, cervicalgia) (10.9%). In the period following mTBI diagnosis, the prevalence of diagnosed conditions increased, especially for visual disturbances (327.2%), cognitive conditions (313.9%), vestibular conditions (192.6%), those related to headache (152.2%), and hearing (72.9%). Sleep-related conditions showed moderate positive correlation with a group of co-occurring conditions, led by cognitive conditions (ϕc = 0.50), anxiety disorders (ϕc = 0.42), PTSDs (ϕc =0.43), and headaches and related conditions (ϕc = 0.38). Results indicate that caring for SMs with mild TBI requires a holistic approach, one that considers the complex nature of SM conditions, prior to sustaining their mTBI, as well as after injury. We found a complex correlation of conditions that suggest SMs with mTBI are undergoing a multifaceted experience, one that may require the development of a targeted multidimensional clinical practice recommendation and practice.

National Security and Economy Decoding the Friendship

National Security and Economy have been two important variables when countries have considered their development agendas. Since world war 2 these two concepts were considered different. In the last 50 years or so that has changed as there is consensus among international relations experts, economists and officials belonging to the national security apparatus of many countries that these two concepts are interlinked. Ever since the Soviet Union fell in august 1991 due to various reasons like dwindling economy, excessive state control and the soviet afghan war. Countries have started noticing this friendship between national security and the economy. Countries like India, japan, south Korea, and western European nations have realized that if they want to keep their citizens safe becoming economically self-sustainable is the only practical and permanent solution.

Narrative Characteristics in Refugee Discourse: An Analysis of American Public Opinion on the Afghan Refugee Crisis After the Taliban Takeover

The United States (U.S.) military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 was met with turmoil as the Taliban regained control of most of the country, including Kabul. These events have affected many and were widely discussed on social media, especially in the U.S. In this work, we focus on Twitter discourse regarding these events, especially potential opinion shifts over time and the effect social media posts by established U.S. legislators might have had on online public reception. To this end, we investigate two datasets on the war in Afghanistan, consisting of Twitter posts by self-identified U.S. accounts and conversation threads initiated by U.S. politicians. We find that Twitter users' discussions revolve around the Kabul airport event, President Biden's handling of the situation, and people affected by the U.S. withdrawal. Microframe analysis indicates that discourse centers the humanitarianism underlying these occurrences and politically leans liberal, focusing on care and fairness. Lastly, network analysis shows that Republicans are far more active on Twitter compared to Democrats and there is more positive sentiment than negative in their conversations.

‘Afghanistan’—the transnational connection between Haqqani Network and the Arab World

ABSTRACT This article explores the dynamics in the Haqqani Network’s (HN) connection with the Arab world which influenced the latter’s relationship with Afghanistan. The financial as well as ideological network that was established between the HN and the Arab countries has seen a trajectory from financing the Afghan War during the 1970s to clandestinely supporting the revival of the Taliban insurgency after 2001 and finally, participating in the Afghan peace negotiation process from 2010 onward – partly due to changes in the geopolitical priorities. After the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, the existing clandestine network is likely to change because many leaders from the Haqqani Network have occupied key positions in the Taliban’s interim government. Moreover, some of the countries from the Arab world are redefining their national interests by bringing significant changes to their foreign policies – which is impacting their interaction with the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan. Despite all this change, the relationship between the Arab world, Haqqani Network, and Afghanistan (including the present Taliban 2) is likely to continue as financial confederates (with the help of both overt and hidden networks) in the present and the future as well.

Literary-social Interpretations of the ‘Stagnation’ Period in 20th Century Uzbek Literature

The period from the 1960s to the 1980s under Brezhnev is stamped in history, both Soviet and Uzbek, as “stagnation.” Particularly for Uzbekistan, this period is known for such stigmatized events as the “cotton” or “Uzbek” scandal – the investigation into Uzbek First Party Secretary Sharaf Rashidov (1917-1983) for misrepresenting cotton harvest results during his twenty-four-year tenure – and the Afghan war (1979-1989). The experience of striving to save the nation from the aggressive system and stereotypes of society, from the "values" of slavery and subordination, is reflected in some examples of 20th-century Uzbek literature. The most prominent figures in XX Century’s Uzbek literary history, Said Ahmad (1920-2007) in his novel Silence (Jimjitlik, 1988) and O‘tkir Hoshimov (1941-2013) in Lives Passed in Dream (Tushda kechgan umrlar, 1992) fell apart from the literature written as the Soviet Union describes the events of this period through a prism of moral monikers. Their understanding of their place in the world has always been through their connection to the nation. Social anxiety for them is inextricably linked to artistic anxiety and vice versa. Writers took it upon themselves to unmask the sins associated with this period, such as “two-facedness” (qiyofasizlik), bribery, fraud, cruelty, and bloodthirstiness (in reference to the Afghan war). The novels focusing on the “stagnation” period played an important role in transforming these moral criticisms of Soviet rule into criticisms of Soviet rule as colonial exploitation and serve as an attempt to unmask the horrors and misdeeds behind Soviet officialdom that have long gone unnoticed. In this paper, I will examine some of those moral constructions and how they framed the period in the minds of post-Soviet Uzbeks. The literary interpretations of the problems in stagnation will be analyzed in the historical, cultural, political and literary context. I hope this paper contributes to the research carried out on Central Asian studies, including Uzbek Literature Literary history, which is known very little worldwide.

Afghan Scholars’ Response to Perspectives on the Afghanistan War: Arrogant Conquest; Disgraceful Withdrawal

In response to the special issue on the Afghanistan War published by Armed Forces &amp; Society, this article offers alternative perspectives regarding America’s longest war from the point of view of scholars who experienced the war firsthand and continue to live in its aftermath. We argue that Afghanistan was invaded by Western militaries who came to experience political failures and moral regrets. The soil could be conquered, but the Afghan nation has always strictly rejected foreign rulers and dictations. As our research critically evaluated the special issue articles published in the Armed Forces and Society Journal, we believe these articles fall short of reasonable analysis by only considering and analyzing the military strategies, war tactics, and failed stabilization efforts in Afghanistan. Civilian casualties owing to military operations by U.S.-led forces, not establishing an inclusive central government, strong resistance of the Taliban, ignoring the Afghan nation’s core ambitions, Pakistan’s double game policy, and high level of corruption led the U.S. to defeat. Nevertheless, we conclude that the U.S. approach to getting revenge for 9/11 victims and restoring their dignity through banzai attacks, blind bombardments, and night raids in civilians’ homes in Afghan cities and villages and taking innocent lives must be recognized, remembered, and condemned.

Editor’s Note: Afghan Scholars’ Response to Perspectives on the Afghanistan War: Arrogant Conquest; Disgraceful Withdrawal

Editor’s Note: Afghan Scholars’ Response to Perspectives on the Afghanistan War: Arrogant Conquest; Disgraceful Withdrawal

Afganistan Savaşı’nda Avustralya Özel Kuvvetlerinin Savaş Suçları ve Agamben’in İstisna Durumu

BM verilerine ve Avustralya Savunma Kuvvetleri (Australian Defence Force, ADF) tarafından hazırlanan rapora göre 2003-2013 yılları arasında Afganistan’da görev alan Avustralya Özel Birlik askerleri en az 89 sivilin ve savaşanın ölümünden sorumludur. Her ne kadar Avustralya hükümeti kendi soruşturmasını yürütmekte ve sorumluları hukuk önüne getirmeye kararlı olduğu yönünde bir izlenim göstermekte ise de, uluslararası barış gücü bünyesinde görev alan personelin uluslararası suçlar işleyebileceği ve işlediği gerçeği hukuki alan dışında siyasi alanda da tartışılması gereken ve etki doğuran bir sorundur. Avustralya birliklerinin Afganistan Savaşı sırasındaki eylemleri uluslararası ilke ve normlarla bağdaşmamaktadır. Yasa koyucu iktidarın, iktidarını kurma aşamasında hukukun üstünde ve dışında olduğunu öne süren Agamben’in istisna durumu teorisine paralel olarak, Avustralya birliklerinin söz konusu eylemleri istisna olmanın ötesinde istisnanın kurala dönüştüğü bir alanı işaret etmektedir. Birliklerin işlediği uluslararası suçların kurbanları olan Afganlar ise hukuki alanın dışına itilen, dolayısıyla hukuki suje olarak tanınmayan bireyi ifade eden homo sacer halini almaktadırlar. Bu doğrultuda, çalışma ulusal alandaki istisna durumu ve homo sacer inşası süreçlerine benzer şekilde uluslararası toplumun kendi istisna durumlarını ve homo sacer sujelerini kurguladığını gösterecektir.

Suicide without warning: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (STARRS)

ObjectivesThe rate of suicide increased in members of the United States Army since 2011 after the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and continues to be a major concern. In order to reverse this disturbing trend, it is vital to understand the risk and protective factors for suicide death in servicemembers. MethodsData were obtained from a case-control psychological autopsy study, which compared U.S. Army suicide decedent cases (n = 135) to a probability sample of living controls (n = 255) who are also service members weighted to be representative of the Army. Interviews were conducted with next-of-kin (NOK) and supervisor (SUP) informants. Multivariable logistic regressions models were constructed using predictors significant after controlling for multiple comparisons. ResultsThe most parsimonious multivariable model controlling for deployment status, as reported by SUP predicting suicide death consisted of four significant variables: a spouse or partner left him or her in the past month (OR = 28.5 [95% CI = 1.8, 442.7] χ² = 5.72, p = .0168); a smaller social network (OR = 4.2 [95% CI = 1.0, 17.3] χ² = 3.97, p = .0462), less likely to seek help from a mental health counselor (OR = 3.4 [95% CI = 1.2, 9.7] χ² = 5.35, p = .0207) and more likely to be described as incautious (OR = 3.8 [95% CI = 1.2, 11.7] χ² = 5.42, p = .0199). The AUC = .88 [95%CI = 0.82, 0.94] for this regression model suggests strong prediction. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that recent relationship problems, especially in soldiers who are less likely to seek out support from others, may be warning signs for detection and prevention of imminent risk of suicide and according to supervisor informant surveys, had neither evidence of a mental health disorder, nor disclosed suicidal ideation or self-harm. Implications for suicide prevention are discussed.

Heroic Soldiers, Justified Wars: Depictions of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in Polish Popular Film

Polish popular film has responded to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with two productions: the TV series Misja: Afganistan (dir. Maciej Dejczer, 2012) and the feature film Karbala (dir. Krzysztof Łukaszewicz, 2015). They do not reflect the prevailing views of the public on these two military conflicts, but rather appeal to the general imaginings about Polish wars in the course of history. As they leave out issues of politics, it is the portrayal of the soldiers that most fundamentally contributes to the construction of the perspectives on the wars in the Middle East in the films under discussion. The predominantly positive image of the Polish soldiers leads the viewer to believe that the wars in which they fought were justified. Misja: Afganistan and Karbala perpetuate the tropes entrenched in the heroic/martyrological model of representing war in Polish film through exploiting universal connotations of heroic war.

Implementation of positive psychology to surmount demoralization caused by a cataclysm in select works of Svetlana Alexievich.

Cataclysm refers to a large-scale and violent event involving disaster, catastrophe, calamity, and tragedy. The recent surge of a pandemic (coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)), humanitarian crisis in Sudan, civil unrest, and war, such as the attacks in Syria and Ukraine, reiterate the need to address the trauma attached to such catastrophes. This study focuses on adapting positive psychology, one of the newest branches of psychology to emerge, to help human beings prosper and lead healthy, happy lives. It also explores post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and means to overcome traumatizing psychological dejection caused by such mishaps. Demoralization is the immediate effect caused on victims and survivors of such devastations. A comprehensive study of cataclysm and demoralization is concomitant with the suffering produced by various factors pertaining to mass annihilation. A deductive methodology is incorporated into the qualitative data to analyze the oral testimonies of war and disaster survivors in Svetlana Alexievich's works titled Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War, Second Hand Time, The Unwomanly Face of War and Chernobyl Prayer. Interpretation of the polyphonic voices in the oral sagas of interviewees in Alexievich's works reveals an increased level of anxiety, stress, and trauma post-catastrophic events. The implementation of positive psychology has been identified as an appropriate psychological intervention to address the issues related to psychological devastation.

Foreign-imposed Regime Change and the American War in Afghanistan

Abstract Why did America's twenty-year war in Afghanistan fail to establish a self-sustaining non-Taliban government? Analysts have cited cultural obstacles in Afghanistan, bureaucratic inertia in Washington, and a lack of strategic commitment, in part because Iraq dominated national security policy. Such claims tend to draw evidence from Germany, Japan, and Iraq, places where the U.S. military achieved some measure of success establishing pro-American governments. The present article broadens the comparison to consider Afghanistan alongside Germany, Japan, Iraq, and two examples of post-Cold War regime-change success: Panama (1989–1990) and Haiti (1994–1995). The cases indicate that U.S. influence in the postwar environment has depended on the prospects for integrating old regime elites into the new government and on the strength of indigenous opposition forces. Both variables were unfavorable in Afghanistan, and they shaped the boundaries of political order—no matter how hard U.S. forces fought or how long they stayed.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Subsequent Risk of Brain Cancer in US Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

While brain cancer is rare, it has a very poor prognosis and few established risk factors. To date, epidemiologic work examining the potential association of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with the subsequent risk of brain cancer is conflicting. Further data may be useful. To examine whether a history of TBI exposure is associated with the subsequent development of brain cancer. A retrospective cohort study was conducted from October 1, 2004, to September 20, 2019, and data analysis was performed between January 1 and June 26, 2023. The median follow-up for the cohort was 7.2 (IQR, 4.1-10.1) years. Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) administrative data on 1 919 740 veterans from the Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium-Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium were included. The main exposure of interest was TBI severity (categorized as mild, moderate or severe [moderate/severe], and penetrating). The outcome of interest was the development of brain cancer based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) or International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) diagnostic codes in either the DoD/VA medical records or from the National Death Index. After 611 107 exclusions (predominately for no encounter during the study period), a cohort including 1 919 740 veterans was included, most of whom were male (80.25%) and non-Hispanic White (63.11%). Median age at index date was 31 (IQR, 25-42) years. The cohort included 449 880 individuals with TBI (mild, 385 848; moderate/severe, 46 859; and penetrating, 17 173). Brain cancer occurred in 318 individuals without TBI (0.02%), 80 with mild TBI (0.02%), 17 with moderate/severe TBI (0.04%), and 10 or fewer with penetrating TBI (≤0.06%). After adjustment, moderate/severe TBI (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 1.90; 95% CI, 1.16-3.12) and penetrating TBI (AHR, 3.33; 95% CI, 1.71-6.49), but not mild TBI (AHR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.88-1.47), were associated with the subsequent development of brain cancer. In this cohort study of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, moderate/severe TBI and penetrating TBI, but not mild TBI, were associated with the subsequent development of brain cancer.