Preserving Sight to Fight by Ensuring Effective Military Eye Protection

Despite the continued development of munitions that create new types of blast fragments that can injure eyes, evidenceindicates decreasing rates of eye injuries in the military. This is largely due to the Department of Defense’s efforts to ensure that service members wear protective eyewear that meets necessary ballistic-impact criteria through the development and continued updating of the Authorized Protective Eyewear List, commonly referred to as the APEL.

“The APEL was developed in 2006 to address high and increasing numbers of battlefield eye injuries,” said Dr. Robert Kang, optometrist for the Defense Health Agency Tri-Service Vision Conservation and Readiness Branch. “The APEL is updated every two years to allow for new developments in technology and user requirements.”

What is the APEL?

The APEL is a Qualified Product List of the specific commercially produced-protective eyewear that is available in spectacles and goggles and has been tested to meet stringent military ballistic fragmentation requirements. The APEL is overseen by the Military Combat Eyewear Protection, or MCEP, program which is managed by the Army’s Program Executive Office, know as PEO Soldier.

APEL eyewear meets both civilian occupational and additional military safety requirements for splash, radiation, dust, mist, impact, and ultraviolet or UV hazards, as well as for ballistic resistance.

Learn more including how to obtain eyewear: https://health.mil/News/Dvids-Articles/2024/07/11/news475954?utm_medium=govdelivery&utm_source=email