Possibly protecting troops' ability to father children in the future, underwear dubbed "Blast Boxers" are gaining popularity in areas known for improvised explosive device (IED) blasts, like Helmand province in Afghanistan. The underwear, according to the Pentagon Channel, is made specifically to protect servicemembers' genitals from injury.
The Washington Post reports the Pentagon has recently ordered $19 million of the special groin-protection underwear to send to the troops in Afghanistan. Why the rush? Well, according to the Post:
From 2009 to 2010, the proportion of injured troops suffering wounds to their genital areas rose from 4.8 to 9.1 percent — a 90 percent increase — according to a report by a group of (military) surgeons. Of the 142 soldiers with “genitourinary wounds” who arrived at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (in Germany) in 2010, 40 percent suffered an injury to the testicles.
A company in Northern Ireland called Cooneen, Watts, and Stone, Ltd., makes the special protective undergarments.
The Pentagon Channel has put together a video report on the "Blast Boxers." Take a look:
