1. “In 2009, it was Hovda who delivered the Pentagon the recommendation that because multiple concussions could cause serious long-term injury, concussions need time to heal.”

Claim Type:Casual Claim- this is a causal claim because of the assertion that multiple concussions can cause “serious long term injury” and as a result of the concussions time is needed to heal 

          2.”A fight ensued. Hovda says some of the Army’s best doctors implied that if   soldiers were told they needed rest after concussions, it was going to usher in an epidemic of fakers, or retired guys claiming disability way after the fact.”

Claim type: Attributive- He is just relying on army doctors instead of making an independent claim on the situation.

3.”Although, the NFL was given the same memo in the 1990s, and brain damage in boxers is even older news, so it doesn’t seem like it would take a neuroscientist—or the top medical brass of an Army that builds laser cannons—to figure out that if 25 mph punches to the head cause brain damage, IED blasts that hit at 330 mph probably do too.”

Claim type:Analogy claim- The author is drawing comparisons from the damage done by IED blasts to brain damage caused by aggressive contact sports.It is comparing knowledge that has been gained through other means.

4.”Eventually, Hovda’s cause prevailed. These days, there are MRIs in theater, assessments after blasts, mandatory rest periods after a concussion.”

Claim type: Factual Claim- This is a factual claim because he is trying to describe the process soldiers have to go through now with the use of MRI’s

5. “There’s good rehabilitation strategies: learn what your deficits are, learn that you’re not going crazy, that you just can’t do what you used to do.”

Claim type: Evaluative claim- This is an evaluative claim because it is expressing how current practices can be refined to offer a better quality of care for veterans.

6. “The human brain has an enormous amount of plasticity. New cells are born every day. New connections can be made.”

Claim type: Factual Claim- This statement is scientifically based and is relevant to the rehabilitation process.

7. “The good news is, teleologically speaking, if we didn’t have the ability to recover from brain injury, we’d have ended up as somebody’s breakfast.”

Claim type: Ethical/Moral claim-  The metaphor at the end of this sentence serves to give value toward the recovery process of veterans.