On January 29th, 2006, Bob Woodruff, then co-anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” was reporting on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, the tank he was riding in was hit. The blast left the reporter with a traumatic brain injury. After his full recovery he and his wife founded the Bob Woodruff foundation (BWF) non-profit organisation in supporting impacted war veterans in diagnosing and treating traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
Brain injuries (particularly traumatic brain injuries)TBI’s and Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) are a health concern for people who served in the military theatres of war Nationally and Internationally.
Since 2000 nearly 500,000 war service veterans in the USA have experienced traumatic brain injury(TBI). At least 185,000 veterans are receiving care through the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs have been diagnosed with at least one TBI from being in the theatre of war.
Failures by the Department of Defence and Department of Veterans Affairs in the underdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries of veterans returning from war zones such as Vietnam, Iraqi and Afghanistan.
Christian King Director a war veteran himself is the director of Brain Injury Centre research and rehabilitation consultant of mild and moderate TBIs has disclosed an alarming trend of former ADF veterans.
Family violence and partner relationships are increasing exponentially because former veterans have gone undiagnosed and even missed diagnosed as depression for mild and moderate traumatic brain injuries.
In the family home frustration, anger, outbursts become physically violent where the female or male partner’s head becomes the primary target with their head being slammed against a wall, refrigerator, kitchen table, even the floor causing the brain to sustain physical impacts on the inside of the skull, where the victim becomes another highly undiagnosed traumatic brain injury victim.
With thousands of former and current ADF members still not receiving best possible traumatic brain injury understanding or rehabilitation diagnosis, family violence has no end game and the rise of criminality, alcoholism, illicit drug use for these people who served to protect our country is a travesty of patriotism. © King 2026
