Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) introduced the Cooperative Overseas Military Battlefield Advancement in Trauma (COMBAT) Care Act on Friday, September 25, 2026. The bipartisan legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO), authorizes the Department of Defense to establish joint training and education programs with foreign militaries to study and implement medical lessons from international conflicts.
The bill permits the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to conduct joint conferences, symposia, and professional exchange programs between U.S. and foreign medical professionals. According to Crow, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and former Army Ranger, the measure aims to address changing warfare conditions, such as those currently observed in Ukraine, by enhancing trauma care readiness for U.S. service members and veterans.
Separately, Crow and Crank introduced the Support Modern Approaches in Recovery Technology for Traumatic Brain Injury (SMART for TBI) Act on July 10, 2025. This legislation proposes a working group to study how digital health technologies, including artificial intelligence, can be utilized to treat active-duty service members. According to Veterans Affairs data cited in the bill's announcement, more than 400,000 U.S. service members were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) between 2000 and 2019.
The COMBAT Care Act was endorsed by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where the Center for Combat Medicine and Battlefield Research (COMBAT) conducts studies on trauma solutions. The center’s research includes evaluating alternate methods for administering FDA-approved medications to reduce bleeding and investigating trauma-induced inflammation to lower mortality rates among the critically injured.
The legislation seeks to modernize the medical protocols used during and after combat. By authorizing research partnerships with foreign militaries, the bill aims to reduce the time it takes for lessons learned in modern conflicts to reach U.S. military medical practitioners. Proponents, including Vik Bebarta, MD, of the University of Colorado, suggest that these advancements are critical for addressing the injury patterns of modern warfare.
For the individual service member, these bills are intended to affect the quality and speed of medical treatment for injuries ranging from severe hemorrhaging to brain trauma. The SMART for TBI Act addresses a condition that has affected more than 185,000 veterans diagnosed through the VA system.
An identical provision for the COMBAT Care Act is currently included in the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The SMART for TBI Act remains a separate legislative effort focused on digital health and artificial intelligence applications in military medicine. Progress on both will depend on the legislative schedule for defense spending and policy.