Noise of military weapons, ground vehicles, planes and ships

Abstract

Noisy equipment and processes are found throughout military operations, exposing service members to risks of hearing damage due to hazardous noise levels. This article provides an overview of the military noise environment for the non-expert and provides a general characterization of the noise by source type and operational category. The focus of the article is primarily related to the Army, but the same, or similar, equipment is used by the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. Damage risk criteria used by the Army Public Health Command are discussed. In addition, the important role of hearing protection to mitigate the hazards of noise exposure is provided.

Prevention of Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Using Investigational Medicines for the Inner Ear: Previous Trial Outcomes Should Inform Future Trial Design

“…Of the PTS prevention trials summarized in Tables 1 (pre-treatment) and 2 (posttreatment), five included soldiers exposed to weapons fire (7,18,27,68,83,197), one included safety officers exposed to weapons fire (NCT04774250), one included impulse noise produced by firecrackers (173), and one included patients exposed to drilling noise While not the only source of noise exposure for soldiers, the hazards of auditory injury as a consequence of military weapon sound are well known (71), and the problem of NIHL in service members is significant (41,56,177,196). Dangerously high sounds levels are well documented during discharge of semi-automatic rifles (see for example 115,120).…”

Development and Initial Validation of the Lifetime Exposure to Noise and Solvents Questionnaire in U.S. Service Members and Veterans

“…We sought to include a comprehensive list of noise sources to assess total noise exposure due to uncertainty concerning the role of any particular noise exposure type in the etiology of latent auditory injury. Noise sources, including noisy items (e.g., weapons), activities (e.g., attending a sporting event), and occupations (e.g., infantry, police officer) were obtained through an extensive review of the published literature and by expert opinion (Beach et al, 2013;Berger et al, 2010;Humes et al, 2006;Jokel et al, 2019;Martinez, 2012;Neitzel et al, 2004;Tak & Calvert, 2008). Noise sources were grouped into three sections: (a) military occupational exposures, (b) nonmilitary occupational exposures, and (c) nonoccupational exposures (see LENS-Q in Supplemental Material S1).…”

“…Typically, the primary focus has been on nonmilitary occupational and/or recreational noise exposures (Choi et al, 2012;Degeest et al, 2017;Guest et al, 2018;Johnson et al, 2017;Neitzel et al, 2004). For most Service members, activities involving noise exposure are fairly unique to military service, are considerably louder, are more acoustically complex, and occur on a more frequent basis (Jokel et al, 2019). A few questionnaires have focused on military noise exposure alone (Irgens-Hansen et al, 2015;Jokitulppo et al, 2006;Muhr & Rosenhall, 2010), but none to our knowledge has included all three exposure categories (military occupational, nonmilitary occupational, and nonoccupational).…”

Environmental Stress in Military Settings

“…In addition to the regular ambient noise to which people are exposed like traffic, airports, restaurants, and other public spaces, military personnel are exposed to noise in a variety of job-relevant tasks and environments during training or deployment. Military personnel may also be exposed to more intense sounds than any other occupation (Jokel et al 2019).…”