So what’s next?

[Dill]

(06-10-2020, 08:58 PM)But iSociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: I read a study (sorry I can't find it now, so believe or don't) that showed most people killed during a combat deployment die within the first three months.  Part of this is certainly inexperience and the benefits of gaining experience.  i don't think it's debateable though that another factor in early mortality is unsuitability to the role.  Any guy who's served in combat can tell you about "that guy" that everyone knew wouldn't make it.

That would be an interesting study to look at. The inexperienced guy who gets killed is a common trope in war movies.

Best indicator of risk is probably pay grade, for sure, but that may have more to do with who gets put in harm's way most frequently. My concern and sympathy has always been for suitable soldiers who frequently become "unsuitable" by being used a lot.

If we consider the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the cause and rate of death varies considerably over time and place.  Statistically frequent causes, like IEDs, suicide bombings and helicopter downing, produce clusters which may have little to do with the experience of the victims.  In 2010, 38 people died on FOB Shank from mortars and rockets randomly dropping onto tents and b-huts, mostly at night. The victims were pretty random, military and civilian. Training played no role in their deaths, so far as I can tell, as it likely would for a rifle squad working the surrounding mountainsides.

I don't find the soldiers in combat zones all that comparable to police on streets, even rioting streets. Partly because soldiers are only lethally deployed against non Americans on foreign soil, and partly because their mission is so different. Both soldiers and police have to recognize different and developing threat levels, and determine appropriate responses; but I think the policeman's job is much harder in this respect, even if it involves less mortal risk. Lethal violence is or should be a last resort for those whose job is to serve and protect the people they are policing. They are never going to call in artillery.

When soldiers are asked to police, they tend not to enjoy it, especially when dealing with foreign populations with foreign customs and language in a war zone. They complain of the much greater risk burden they assume with the policemans' focus on protecting a community.