Accidental War Casualties in Iraq

[Shuckins]

According to some of the figures I've seen, at least 600 of the war casualties in Iraq are attributed to accidental or non-combat-related causes.

Given the actual numbers of troops involved, I find that number to be incredible.  Not only does it indicate that combat casualties are a good deal lower than reported by the media, but it also indicates a problem with off-duty safety and dangerous activities.

Is this rate of loss to accidents the norm?  What the hell is going on over there?  Are the young troops jumping canal ditches with the humvees or what?

[john9001]

we lose troops here in the USA both to on duty and off duty accidents,  but thats not NEWS.

[rabbidrabbit]

Shuckins,

From my experience in the infantry, we rarely completed a training cycle without killing someone.  Training and operational accidents are a far more significant risk than many realize.  If you saw some of the stuff that goes on you would understand.

[VOR]

Most of the accidents involve vehicles, so yeah there's alot of horseplay going on as you surmised. A surprising number of pedestrians (military) are also struck by vehicles while walking or running on the FOBs.

Several people were killed in several accidents during the invasion in my convoy alone. We pushed for 36 straight hours before pitching camp near Iskandariyah and day one was almost a complete brownout due to dust, so there were alot of collisions and rollovers.

On our second convoy north to Mosul one of the vehicles behind mine took an RPG to the trailer it was towing. The round didn't hurt anyone but some of the vehicles behind it piled up which caused another casualty. I dunno if that one was reported as combat or accidental.