Broken but Brave: Why Training Injuries Deserve Recognition

By Kirk Carlson | USMC Veteran | Founder, Covenant of Courage

Every American service member signs up knowing the risks. We train hard, push our bodies beyond limits, and prepare ourselves to go wherever the mission demands. But not every injury happens in combat. Many occur in training — during marches, obstacle courses, live-fire exercises, and aircraft drills — before a deployment ever begins.

Yet for far too many who are hurt preparing to serve, there is no medal, no ceremony, no recognition. Only silence. Only a discharge.

This is the story of the broken but brave — the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines whose service ends in a medical file rather than a combat citation.

The Reality of Training-Related Injuries

Every year, thousands of service members are injured stateside while preparing for deployment. According to the Defense Health Agency, training-related musculoskeletal injuries account for more lost duty days than any other cause.

From torn ACLs on forced marches to spinal injuries sustained during airborne operations, these are not minor scrapes. They are career-altering. And yet, these warriors are often separated quietly — no purple heart, no parade, no path forward.

“I got hurt during a ruck in Quantico, just weeks before I was supposed to deploy,” said one former Marine. “No one ever told me I’d be treated differently because my injury wasn’t from enemy fire. But I was.”

Why These Injuries Matter

Training injuries are not accidents. They are a direct result of service, part of the sacrifice made to ensure combat readiness. To dismiss them as “less worthy” than combat wounds is to ignore the cost of preparation — and the people who bore it.

These men and women:

• Volunteered to serve in a time of war

• Pushed through elite training regimens designed to simulate battlefield conditions

• Suffered injury in uniform, while following orders and fulfilling mission requirements

In short: They earned their place among the ranks of the honored.

The Discharge Dilemma

For those medically discharged due to training injuries, the outcome is often harsh and final:

• No reassignment, even in administrative or instructional roles

• Limited access to full VA benefits if injury isn’t deemed “combat-related”

• No formal recognition or retirement status

• Lifelong consequences: physically, financially, and emotionally

This bureaucratic gap sends the wrong message — that your service only counts if you were wounded on foreign soil. We must reject that notion.

Dignity Through Policy Reform

That’s where the #ReasonableRanks campaign comes in. We’re fighting to change military discharge policies so that injured but capable service members have the right to reassignment rather than automatic separation. We are advocating for:

• Recognition of training-related injuries as service-connected

• Retention pathways for non-deployable but mission-ready personnel

• Policy alignment with ADA and Equal Protection principles

This isn’t just about keeping people in uniform. It’s about honoring their sacrifice and giving them a chance to continue serving in roles they can still perform with pride.

What We Owe the Broken but Brave

We say we support the troops. That must include the ones who were injured before ever stepping onto foreign soil — the ones who trained harder than most civilians will ever understand, then bore the cost with no applause, no medals, and no thanks.

It’s time to change that.

Let’s recognize them. Let’s retain them. Let’s rewrite the system so no one gets discarded for breaking their body in service to a country they were still preparing to defend.

📢 Join the Movement

✅ Sign the Petition: https://chng.it/5yXYvkBtMR

🌐 Learn More: www.ReasonableRanks.org

Because being broken in training doesn’t mean you weren’t brave — and bravery deserves recognition.