OIF airmen less likely to die than U.S. civilians

A study by University of Pennsylvania researchers found that airmen deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom are less likely to die than young adults in the civilian population in the United States.


OIF airmen less likely to die than U.S. civilians
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 13, 2007 17:45:16 EST

Airmen deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom are not only less likely to die than soldiers and Marines; they also are much less likely to die than young adults in the civilian population in the U.S.

That’s the finding of a study conducted recently by two researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

The study, published in the September issue of the journal Population and Development Review, found that the annual death rate for airmen deployed for OIF is 0.37 deaths per thousand people, compared with 1.32 deaths per thousand for the U.S. population aged 20 to 34.

That means that young civilian adults at home are more than 3½ times more likely to die than airmen deployed for OIF.

The study’s authors, Emily Buzzell and Samuel Preston, do not attempt to explain the phenomenon.

Airmen deployed for OIF also have the lowest death rate in Iraq of any of the military services. Airmen are less than one-tenth as likely to die as the overall military population serving in Iraq. The death rate of the overall military population in Iraq is 4.02 deaths per thousand.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/11/airforce_death_iraq_071113/



uhc comment: I wonder if they looked at and included the 5,000 annual suicides among veterans. --> http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=4615