Editor's note: This story was produced by Joaquin Sapien and T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, and Daniel Zwerdling, NPR. A version of this story was co-produced with NPR and aired on All Things Considered.

In 2007, with roadside bombs exploding across Iraq, Congress moved to improve care for soldiers who had suffered one of the war's signature wounds, traumatic brain injury.

Lawmakers passed a measure requiring the military to test soldiers' brain function before they deployed and again when they returned. The test was supposed to ensure that soldiers received proper treatment.

Instead, an investigation by ProPublica and NPR has found, the testing program has failed to deliver on its promise, offering soldiers the appearance of help, but not the reality.

Racing to satisfy Congress' mandate, the military chose a test that wasn't actually proven to detect TBI: the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metric, or ANAM.

Four years later, more than a million troops have taken the test at a cost of more than $42 million to taxpayers, yet the military still has no reliable way to catch brain injuries. When such injuries are left undetected, it can delay healing and put soldiers at risk for further mental damage.

Photos: Army's 4th Brigade deployment ceremony to Afghanistan

Dec 01, 2011

Soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division stand at parade rest during the deployment ceremony.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Zachary Wolf

Photos: Army's 4th Brigade deployment ceremony to Afghanistan

Dec 01, 2011

Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division participate on their deployment ceremony at Sullivan Arena, Anchorage, Alaska, Nov. 29.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera

Photos: Army's 4th Brigade deployment ceremony to Afghanistan

Dec 01, 2011

Gov. Sean Parnell speaks to soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division during a deployment ceremony on Nov. 29.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Zachary Wolf

Photos: Army's 4th Brigade deployment ceremony to Afghanistan

Dec 01, 2011

Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks to soldiers of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division during a deployment ceremony at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Nov. 29.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Zachary Wolf

Photos: Army's 4th Brigade deployment ceremony to Afghanistan

Dec 01, 2011

Soldiers of the 9th Army Band perform during the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division deployment ceremony.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera

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Based on corporate and government records, confidential documents, scores of interviews and emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, our investigation found:

• The people who invented ANAM and stood to make money from it were involved in the military's decision to use it, prompting questions about the impartiality of the selection process. No other tests received serious consideration. A report by the Army's top neuropsychologist circulated last year to key members of Congress labeled the selection process "nepotistic."
• The Pentagon's civilian leadership has ignored years of warnings, public and private, that there was insufficient scientific evidence the ANAM can screen for or diagnose traumatic brain injury. The military's highest-ranking medical official said the test was "fraught with problems." Another high-ranking officer said it could yield misleading results.
• Compounding flaws in the ANAM's design, the military has not administered the test as recommended and has rarely used its results. The Army has so little confidence in the test that its top medical officer issued an explicit order that soldiers whose scores indicated cognitive problems should not be sent for further medical evaluation.
• Top Pentagon officials have misrepresented the cost of the test, indicating that because the Army invented the ANAM, the military could use it for free. In fact, because the military licensed its invention to outside contractors, it has paid millions of dollars to use its own technology.
• The military has not conducted a long-promised head-to-head study to make sure the ANAM is the best available test, delaying it for years. Instead, a series of committees have given lukewarm approval to continue using the ANAM, largely to avoid losing the data gathered so far.

Several current and former military medical officials criticized the Defense Department's embrace of a scientifically unproven tool to use on hundreds of thousands of soldiers with TBIs.

"The test was not developed for the purposes of identifying the kinds of problems that we see in concussions," said Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a retired brigadier general and former adviser on mental health issues to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The test was picked "without asking ourselves the questions: what are we trying to achieve here and what are we going to use the screenings for?"

Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker acknowledged there have been problems with the testing program and called it a "first step."