More military dying in training than in war

longknife

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2012
42,221
13,088
2,250
Sin City
image.jpg


Sadly, it's a combination of faulty equipment and poorly trained personnel. As an example, when the Fitzgerald got hit by another ship, reports indicate the radar wasn't working properly and those in charge knew it. It was hard to evade the other ship when the radar didn't show it. Also, I haven't read anything about having actual lookouts on duty.

In 2011, while troops were still being deployed to Afghanistan, the Pentagon reported 395 combat deaths and only two training deaths. But by 2014, as troops were pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq, combat deaths fell to 38 and training deaths were at 15. In 2015, the numbers reversed with 15 combat deaths and 24 training deaths. In 2016, there were 16 combat deaths and 20 training fatalities. By 2017, using the congressional statistics, training deaths were at 80 and combat deaths at 21.

So far, the training death rate in 2018 seems to be on pace with 2016, a year in which 35 pilots and crew members died, according to the Military Times analysis. Since October, when the fiscal year began, there have been 15 fatal accidents. There was at least one ground incident at Camp Pendleton, in February, when a flight surgeon was struck by a helicopter's tail rotor.

More @ ANALYSIS | More military dying in training than in war; here's what's being done about that
 
A surgeon got hit by a tail rotor?

He got complacent then. In our VFD we occasionally land birds for medevac and the radio lights up with reminders to stay away from the aircraft if you don't need to be near it, especially the tail rotor.
 
Ever since the military mechanized, there has been more deaths in both training and logistics than in actual combat. That's just the way it is. The closer you train in actual combat conditions the better you will do in real combat. Plus, the Darwin factor comes into play during training. Better for the darwin factor to come into play during training where it's just that one stupid person that gets killed than in real combat where he also gets a lot of others killed with him.
 
can't stop stupid
....the Super Stallion is ONE incident with many deaths...so it is counted as 1 incident, not many
....same with the AAV
....same with the C130
so death count is misleading
...and the old equipment aspect could be misleading.....what equipment? the military has used old equipment before....we used super old 1911A1s
..what are the number of incidents, flight hours, etc comparison?? this give you a better indication if there is a problem
 
Last edited:
Military training involves some risks and that's expected. At least this isn't the Russian military training.
Their gas chamber training actually involves the real thing, rather than tear gas. If you screw up in their, you're sent home in a box. As I recall, they still use live ammunition when the ground forces crawl under barbed wire. We used to use it, but complaints from family members of recruits who didn't keep their heads down and died because of it, made our military change its method.
 
Life was cheap during WW2. The U.S. barely flinched when about 800 Americans were killed in a rehearsal for D-Day in April 1944 (Operation Tiger).
 
Life was cheap during WW2. The U.S. barely flinched when about 800 Americans were killed in a rehearsal for D-Day in April 1944 (Operation Tiger).

Just curious. How long after the war was that declassified?
...it seems they waited many years--decades some times, to release sensitive information back then
...now they give out all kinds of secrets-- up to date
 
The democratic world has perfected the art of minimizing it's casualty rates in war, and so this does not astonish.

I am not against a humane regard for those serving, having served, but maybe we have crossed a line and this is why we no longer win wars?
 
The democratic world has perfected the art of minimizing it's casualty rates in war, and so this does not astonish.

I am not against a humane regard for those serving, having served, but maybe we have crossed a line and this is why we no longer win wars?

Our "not winning wars" IS NOT caused by our military. It's caused by stupid politicians who stop our military from winning.
 

New Topics

Forum List

Back
Top