Posted on 11/03/2007 9:08:48 AM PDT by InfantryMarine
One of the leading causes of death among military personnel, and it is a matter of much concern among base commanders and of the DoD in general, is off-duty automobile crashes in the U.S.A. and its territories. Even young men (and women) with high IQs and college degrees can act stupidly while driving an auto, especially with the aid of a few beers or margaritas.
Another leading cause of death is helicopter crashes while engaged in training exercises or routine flights in non-combat areas (i.e., stateside).
I’ve seen data showing that even in Iraq about 25 percent of the milpers killed lost their lives in non-combat accidents. My number may be off a bit, but the percentage is not insignificant.
The numbers cited here may be total military fatalities, both combat related and not.
RE: 1992-2000 figures
Want to reduce deaths in the US Military?
Just shrink it!
(aka “The Clinton Military Doctrine”)
No. The numbers are meaningless unless you know the number of people in the military each year.
For example if in the year 1986 the military had 1,000,000 members and there were 1,984 deaths that would equate to a .001984% death rate.
And if in the year 2002 the military had 750,000 members and there were 1,007 deaths that would equate to a .00134267 death rate.
It is just simple math and with out knowing the total number of deaths and the population the numbers are meaningless.
Now suppose you compared them to a similar population of the most dangerous mid-sized cities in the United States, it would be interesting to see how the combat deaths in the field compare to the civilian deaths due to homicide and accidents?
and look at the way clinton destrpyed the military....almost 1.8 million active duty when he got in and 1.37 when he left...
Your point would, of course, be valid, if we were having a discussion on the safety of the military or something similar. But we aren't. The left in this country is using dead soldiers as a prop to bash Bush and the war. We are supposed to believe that they somehow value the lives of each and every member of the military, yet these numbers prove otherwise. Men and women have been dying in similar numbers for decades, yet it never stopped the Democrats from pushing for defense cuts.
No, they've set the standard for using these numbers, this article only throws them back in their faces.
In any event, given the incredibly low numbers of casualties suffered in actions to liberate and pacify two entire countries in the space of six years, I really don't think the left would want to start looking at "Denominators".
It seems to me they are heroes doing their job for all of us and there is no reason to diminish their losses.
Great Post!
Two of my sons have had training incidents occur. One took a fall wearings nods and the other had parachute failure.
IMO, higher alert status, increased training and higher morale reduces accidental deaths in the military.
Go here for details.
Don't confuse motivation with "quality".
When I was going through flight school at Pensacola we were told of a study that followed Navy-Marine Corps pilots for 20 years. Aviation is inherently dangerous, military aviation moreso and naval aviation the most dangerous. Yet the leading cause of death for pilots in this 20 year survey, which included war years, was auto accidents.
The posted article is ambiguous for 2005-2006. Go to page 10 of the link provided to see the actual numbers—nothing higher than previous years in Iraq.
If the numbers for 2005 and 2006 are claiming that there were no deaths other than for the operations in Asia, I’d say the numbers were wrong.
truth bump
referance ping
Full Time Equivalent (FTE) forces / casualties = % of troops
as abridged from the sourced link
1980..... 2,159,630 / 2,392 = .11%
1985..... 2,323,185 / 2,252 = .10%
1990..... 2,258,324 / 1,507 = .07%
1995..... 1,661,928 / 1,040 = .06%
2000..... 1,530,430 / .. 758 = .05%
2005..... 1,664,014 / 1,942 = .12%
General Patton was killed in an accident.
As you point out, in the military they are not uncommon.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.