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"between 1983 and 1996, 18,006 American military personnel died accidentally in the service of their country. That death rate of 1,286 per year exceeds the rate of combat deaths in Iraq by a ratio of nearly two to one."

Shocking!!!! Why haven't OSHA and the trial lawyers done something about this? /sarcasm

"Shocking!!!! Why haven't OSHA and the trial lawyers done something about this? /sarcasm"

SHHHH! You don't want to give the leftists ideas--I'm sure they can find some willing lawyer accomplices to file the necessary lawsuit.

I would have to do some digging but I think that figure includes both on and off duty deaths. All of them Line of Duty except maybe the DUI related.

If they would sift out just the training deaths that number would still shock people. Typically those deaths only make the local news. I've known some who got a scant one paragraph mention in section B.

18,006 American service members who died accidentally in service of their country from 1983 to 1996.

I knew several of them. I retired in 1986, but prior to that every large exercise had casualties – usually field generator mechanics. Occasionally I would read of soldiers run over by tracked vehicles at night on exercises – because they mistakenly choose to sleep on clear ground (picking their spot after dark) rather than between the trees. Clear ground often turned out to be tank trails. Normal operations were also hazardous. We lost a seaman because a tugboat’s tow cable fouled during a storm near the Azores. I’ve seen serious injuries from parting lines and falls during typhoons. The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the most dangerous place in the world to work.
But there is a difference – our “esteemed” media can’t use these deaths and injuries to make a political point.