Retired U.S. Air
Force Maj. Rick Briggs has shifted his focus from providing protective
headgear for troops overseas to ensuring proper care for troops returning
home to Michigan with head injuries. The Brighton man is still director
of the Michigan chapter of Operation Helmet, but recently took command
of Head Injured Survivors of America, a nonprofit organization that
will provide financial and other aid to Michigan war veterans with traumatic
brain injuries.
Head Injured Survivors
of America Inc. will work with the Brighton-based Brain Injury Association
of Michigan, a brain injury support and research center to help troops
with head injuries.
HIS was launched
last year, but didn't have a clear direction until its founder contacted
Briggs. The organization aims to raise funds for research into head
injuries and to provide aid to veterans with head injuries. It will
also provide educational materials to mental health professionals and
families. "It was a natural fit. I already had a lot of contacts
in the private sector and the political arena," Briggs said of
his new role as head of HIS. "It's all about caring for the troops."
The organization
will holds its first major fundraising event in May.
The need for such
an organization is great, said Briggs, a veteran of the Gulf War whose
son is on duty with the Michigan Army National Guard in Iraq. For one
thing, 65 percent of hospitalized veterans suffer some form of traumatic
brain injury, such as closed-head injuries and comas, according to 2006
military data.
Briggs said federal
funding for traumatic brain injuries is minimal when compared to federal
dollars expended on problems such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.
He said annual federal funding for people with head injuries works out
to an average of $2.55 per victim.
That's a significant
point, Briggs said, considering there were 1.4 million traumatic brain
injuries in the United States according to a 2003 report, while there
were 176,300 cases of cancer; 51,334 cases of HIV or AIDS; and 10,400
cases of multiple sclerosis.
"It's four
times as many people suffering with all the others combined, and it's
only getting pennies," he said of funding for head trauma.
Briggs, who still
runs Operation Helmet's Michigan chapter, said the Army is almost fully
equipped with ballistic lining pad kits similar to those created by
Operation Helmet. He said the Marine Corps and Navy have yet to fully
adopt the equipment.
Contact Daily Press
& Argus reporter Christopher Behnan at (517) 548-7108 or at
cbehnan@gannett.com
