When soldiers return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, there is one injury that is rarely publicly discussed: The damage that improvised explosive devices cause to the genitals. Most troops in the field are equipped with only partial blast protection for the genitals and must buy fully-protective armor with their own funds.
One British firm, BCB International, is doing a substantial business selling protective “Bomb Boxers” to American servicemen.
The IED-secure underwear offer almost the same security to the nether regions that standard military armor offers to the head and chest. Users enjoy kevlar protection for their penis, testicles and colon; the Bomb Boxers also contain extra-long legs designed to secure the femoral artery. The shorts are intentionally designed to help protect the genitals from shrapnel.
Standard armor given to troops protects their genitals with a Kevlar flap on the front of their armor. However, this does not protect them from shrapnel hitting them from below or behind them. The Kevlar is double-woven and the total weight of the underwear is approximately 4.5 ounces.
BCB markets the underwear for $65 a pair. Due to budgetary concerns, the Defense Department does not equip all soldiers with the underwear.
At the massive Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where nearly all serious Afghanistan injuries are processed, 9.8 percent of casualties sustained genitourinary injuries among 2009 admittees. The number doubled between 2008 and 2009.
The Taliban is intentionally designing their roadside bombs to take out troops’ nether regions. They typically place bombs on fence posts, which create a kind of a blast that is perfectly designed to mangle a soldier or marine’s most delicate area. Due to the stigma surrounding injuries to the genitals, it is rarely discussed in the media or in public forums.
When hit, the best-case scenario for injured troops is that they wear a colostomy bag for several months; in worst-case scenarios, which are becoming more and more common, an IED blows off both legs above the knee and mangles the penis and testicles to the point where amputation is required.
Worst of all for IED victims, an increasing number are also sustaining injuries to the hips, which make being fitted with a prosthesis impossible. Survivors may be able to have sex with the help of testosterone supplements; however, they will be infertile.
There is little medical literature on the long-term mental health, quality of life and outlook of surviviors of similar injuries in World War II or Korea.
