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From CNN’s Barbara Starr and Jennifer Rizzo
Soldiers in full combat gear file into a hot, deafeningly loud, and dark room. Fake blood covers the floor and drips off the plastic body parts that are scattered about. Smoke and strobe lights mix with heavy metal music and the sound of recorded screams.
After weeks of behavioral therapy for traumatic brain injuries, the soldiers are facing this intense simulation to show that they can get back to their daily work—combat.
Staff Sgt. Aaron Potter is among the group of patients at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, going through this final assessment.
“It’s probably the closest you can get without having the real thing. The smoke, the smells, the noises, the injuries,” Potter says after exiting the simulation.
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