More military deaths in peacetime 81-82 than 05-06
 

Government Report: More Military Deaths in Some Years of Peace Than War
Fox
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

More active members of the military died during two years of peacetime in the early 1980s than died during a two-year period of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a government report.

The Congressional Research Service, which compiled war casualty statistics from the Revolutionary War to present day conflicts, reported that 4,699 members of the U.S. military died in 1981 and '82 — a period when the U.S. had only limited troop deployments to conflicts in the Mideast. That number of deaths is nearly 900 more than the 3,800 deaths during 2005 and '06, when the U.S. was fully committed to large-scale military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan...

I saw that - pretty amazing stat

I sure remember losing a lot of guys to accidents and suicides back in the 80's.

But Clinton wasn't even in power then!!
Blame.... Regan?!? ;)

Seriously, was it really just a lot of accidents or suicides from 81 -> 82?
Anyone know the stats for current accidents or suicide in non-conflict areas?
Still losing more than actual combat?

To a large extent, we train as we fight...live rounds, dangerous high performance aircraft, etc...when we are at war, we generally practice in theater by doing.

It did not make the news because the Press really didn't give a crap about the military...until they had Bush to try to use the statistics against.

i know alot of guys who were in around the late 70s. it was still the post vietnam-carter military. moral was crap. drug use was rampant. the budgets had been slashed and obsolete equipment wasn't being maintained.

People pass away or are killed in accidents in peace and war. The peaceniks do not realize this and blame it all on the politico in office that day, week or month. Someone who has or is wearing a uniform knows better but trying to get some sense in their heads is usually wasted effort.

Average active millitary '81/'82 = 2,102,820

Average deaths = 2349

Percent of active military deaths = .11%

Average active military '05/'06 = 1,378,014

Average deaths = 1900

Percent of active military deaths = .14%

Endstate: If you are active military, you have a 30% greater chance of dying today than you did if you were active military in 81-82.

Are they comparing apples to apples? Did only 3,800 service men die in 05-06 total, or is that just the number of deaths attributable to Iraq and Afghanastan and the deaths stateside are counted elsewhere?

Slice it anyway you like..when it comes to Iraq and ME the GW Presidency has turned out to be one big cluster fk.

pa911,

You are not comparing apples to apples. The current numbers include off-duty deaths and also guard/reserve when activated. The inclusion of guard and reserve started under Clinton (by les Aspin?) and I’m not sure when the off-duty deaths were included into the total deaths.

The inclusion of the off duty (vehicular and recreational particularly) was to highlight the losses from these sources.

To get an accurate comparison you would need to find out how your base numbers are derived and then take that into account in your calculations. Sometimes the results appear to more precise than they really are, and no one wants to spend the money to get really accurate data.

S/F, FOG

pa,

One of the problems with the statistics is the classification. I am active duty and am stationed at a Joint Reserve Base. I know that the 10% figure used for Guard/Reserve FTE calculation is very low. When a Guardsman/Reservist has something happen that would bring them into one of these categories while training they are effectively transferred to the active component for the duration.

Notice how low the suicide numbers are? I might believe a total of 6,000 suicidal ideations but not 6,000 suicides.

FOG

My point is how you want to look at it ...table #5 shows 0 deaths for hostile action for 81-82 compared to 1482 for 05-06

Many of the same folks would have been killed on a training range if we were at peace. We simply exchange one area of operations for another.

...also, we do not report deaths by hostile action in peacetime. They are "accidents."