Peace Time Claims More Us Military Lives Than War?

The suicide rate post in that other thread reminded me that more American military personnel died on a yearly basis during peace time in the 1980's (mostly from accidents) than at any year during the two wars we've been fighting in Iraq/Afghanistan.

Table 4. U.S. Active Duty Military Deaths, 1980 Through 2008, Part I,

Total Military Personnel

(as of April 22, 2009)

1980 2,392

1981 2,380

1982 2,319

1983 2,465

1984 1,999

1985 2,252

1986 1,984

1987 1,983

1988 1,819

1989 1,636

1990 1,507

1991 1,787

1992 1,293

1993 1,213

1994 1,075

1995 1,040

1996 974

1997 817

1998 827

1999 796

2000 758

2001 891

2002 999

2003 1,410

2004 1,873

2005 1,941

2006 1,882

2007 1,953 (highest of the wars)

2008 1,441

Follow the link for the complete charts and breakdown of causes etc. http://www.fas.org/s...sec/RL32492.pdf

Oh, and there were also more suicides back then as well.