…when we’re killing ourselves at alarming numbers at home? And I’m not just talking about suicides. In FY 2009, 163 troops committed suicide in the Army alone. Statistics for 2010 haven’t been released yet, but if media reports are any indication, the current rate will hover around there or even higher. What is even more astonishing is that other than combat, suicides aren’t actually the leading cause of death among our troops.

In the past 12 months, 177 Soldiers have suffered accidental fatalities, according to the US Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center (USACRC). What does that mean? It means 177 Soldiers died needlessly without putting a gun to their head or being targeted by an enemy force. Of those, 127 of those deaths occurred while off duty.

According to a recent briefing by BG William T. Wolf, part of the problem is that safety messages either aren’t reaching junior leaders and/or individual Soldiers or we aren’t applying the “band of brothers” mentality during off-duty time.

Over 65% of those fatalities were from privately owned vehicles accidents. Soldiers are either not paying attention, are distracted, or participating in risky driving. Of that 65%, sedans and motorcycles accounted for 31% each of those fatalities. Looking at the ratio of motorcycle riders to sedan drivers, that makes motorcycle riding the single riskiest activity for our troops outside of combat. This annoys me about as much as it perks my ears.

As a “crotch rocket” (sport bike) rider, I know first hand the mentality that many of my peer riders have in handling these bikes. They’re fast, powerful, and limber in traffic. The urge to zip through traffic is hard to ignore. This is one of the reasons I stopped riding with other sport bike riders. There is a sense of mob mentality when groups of sport bike riders get together on the open road. Everyone tends to try and match the riding experience and capability of the most experienced and daring rider in the group. That is a recipe for disaster.

One of the problems is that when Soldiers return from combat, they actually miss the adrenaline and excitement that combat brought. Life becomes boring and troops tend to seek out ways to find that excitement in their lives. Risky driving and motorcycle riding are the low hanging fruit.

We need to stop this immediately as leaders and peers of troops. We MUST resist the urge to participate in risky behaviors both on and off duty. We need to ignore that sense of indestructibility that some survivors of combat experience.

We also need to pay attention to our surroundings. The irony of all that hyper-vigilance that combat veterans suffer from when they return is that they don’t pay attention to other areas because they’re so focused on trash on the sides of the road or a broken down vehicle. Meanwhile, they aren’t paying attention to that motorcycle that has crept up alongside them before attempting to change lanes or make a turn onto another street.

The main problem is that the largest group of motorcycle fatalities are leaders in the grades of Sergeant through Captain. I would guess that the reason for this is cockiness as most leaders tend to feel more confident in their abilities than they really should. 56% of motorcycle fatalities are between the ages of 31-45 years. This tells me that we aren’t living the same standards we’re trying to enforce in our troops. That is the first thing that needs to stop.

Listen, there is no reason that more than 300 Soldiers are killed every year due to stupidity or suicide (not necessarily mutually exclusive). We need to slow down, wear helmets (23% of fatalities weren’t wearing helmets), pay attention to our surroundings, wear seat belts (approximately 46% of vehicle fatalities weren’t wearing seatbelts), and show some intelligence in taking a taxi or asking for a ride if we’ve been drinking. We need to seek help when we feel like life if our of our control. Pick up the phone. We have enough trouble surviving combat. We shouldn’t have to struggle to survive at home.

As a motorcycle rider, I have just one complaint about the Army’s efforts to stem this problem: the focus on mandatory motorcycle training. I understand that per capita, there are more motorcycle fatalities than car fatalities, but the level of butt pain that motorcycle riders are required to endure is beyond necessary. One of the fixes the Army is considering is mandated “progressive motorcycle training model” that will be implemented next year. As it is, motorcyclists have to take substantially more mandatory training than their four-wheeled counterparts, even though there are more vehicle fatalities AND some motorcycle fatalities are NOT the fault of motorcycle riders, but inattentive drivers. The problem is that looking at the statistics, I really don’t have much of an argument here. I can’t claim that experienced riders shouldn’t have to do some of the training because they are the ones getting killed. I can’t claim that it should only be focused on younger or lower ranking Soldiers because they don’t comprise the majority of fatalities either.

We need a wake up call. We need to cease and desist our risky riding and driving habits and start looking out for each other or the enemy won’t have to worry about defeating us. We’ll have already defeated ourselves before ever stepping foot on the battlefield.

Now the boring statistics according to USACRC:

Total Army fatalities in FY10: 177
Privately owned vehicles: 65%
Personal injury: 15%
Aviation: 9%
Army Combat Vehicles: 6%
Army motor vehicles: 3%
Fire/Explosives: 2%

POV Fatalities:
Sedans: 35%
Motorcycles: 32%
Other: 20%
Pedestrians: 11%

Driving Trends:
Sedans:
- 65% are 18-24 years old
- 35% involved speeding
- 45% no seat belt
- 13% involved alcohol

Motorcycles:
- 56% are 31-45 years old
- 38% involved speeding
- 72% are leaders (E5-O3)
- 23% no helmet

Other (ATV, SUV, Trucks, Vans):
- 43% are 17-23 years old
- 35% involved speeding
- 48% no seat belt
- 13% involved alcohol

For more information or see where I took some of this information, check out https://safety.army.mil. The site has an awesome “Leader’s Corner” with a lot of information and training that leaders of all ranks can use to stress safety and risk aversion. There is also a “Soldier’s Corner” with useful “toolboxes” and safety kits that will keep Soldiers safe and alive. Finally, there is a “Family Corner” for family members to gauge their and their significant other’s risks and safety. It’s got some great videos and other material that families can use to discuss safety in their homes.