I saw this on the net a few times in the last day or so.
There was a US Military helicopter in the California region in the last year (or so?) exact date eludes me, and the pilot was injured by a laser device being transmitted (if my memory serves me correctly) from a vessel. I am not sure of the nature and extent of his injuries (eye damage etc), but he was having a REALLY hard time getting disbility from the DoD for that specific injury.
I am not sure if the article was culled from www.military.com or another clearing house, but I believe that this was a fairly recent case (in the last year or so - roughly). Dig up that story and you'll see what I am talking about.
There is a potential pattern here.
I'll check out the story. Sounds interesting.