Military Safety

Military vehicles were the leading cause of the 1,108 Defense Department (DOD) military personnel deaths attributable to on-duty, non-aviation accidents from 1988 to 1996. Other causes for the fatalities included accidents with explosives and weapons, parachuting, physical training, and other ground and sea activities. Military training activities were involved in 500 of the 1,108 on-duty accidental deaths. DOD's on-duty, non-aviation accident fatality rate declined about 42 percent between 1988 and 1996, from 4.3 to 2.5 deaths per 100,000 non-aviation military personnel. This decline is largely due to a decrease in the DOD vehicle accident fatality rate.

GAO noted that: (1) military vehicles were the leading cause of the 1,108 DOD military personnel fatalities that were attributable to on-duty, non-aviation accidents from 1988 to 1996; (2) vehicle accidents accounted for 466, or 42 percent, of these fatalities and resulted in more on-duty deaths than any other type of accident in each of the services except the Navy; (3) furthermore, Army vehicle accidents were responsible for 333 deaths, or 30 percent of DOD's non-aviation fatalities and 71 percent of DOD's vehicle accident fatalities; (4) the causes for the remaining 642 fatalities included accidents with explosives and weapons, parachuting, physical training, and other ground and sea activities; (5) military training activities were involved in 500 of the 1,108 on-duty accidental fatalities; (6) of these fatalities, 454 resulted from accidents involving individual or unit training, combat exercises, or afloat operations; (7) the remaining 46 fatalities involved students in the services' training school programs, such as initial recruit, infantry, and airborne training; (8) the other 608 on-duty accidental fatalities occurred in other activities, such as peace operations and maintenance and repair of vehicles and equipment; (9) DOD's on-duty, non-aviation accident fatality rate declined about 42 percent between 1988 and 1996, from 4.3 to 2.5 deaths per 100,000 non-aviation military personnel; (10) this decline is largely due to a decrease in the DOD vehicle accident fatality rate, from 1.9 to 1.0 deaths per 100,000 non-aviation military personnel; (11) the annual number of fatalities fluctuated over the period but declined overall from 139 in 1988 to 58 in 1996; and (12) the overall fatality rate and the annual vehicle fatality rate decreased for the Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps but increased for the Air Force.