# How dangerous is being a U.S Soldier compared with other occupations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 29, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723 "2010-10-29T01:46:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/1 "2010-10-29T01:46:50Z")
What’s the yearly death rate for a U.S soldier, and how does that compare to other profession’s rates of death and injury on the job? ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/2 "2010-10-29T02:58:53Z")
The question is way to broad. You need to specify what job the soldier has. There’s a huge difference between an infantryman and communications guy. There is a common misconception by civilians that being in the military in and of itself puts you at an elevated risk of getting killed. The overwhelming majority of jobs in all branches of the military are very safe and rarely exposed to higher risk than the guy working at best buy. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/3 "2010-10-29T03:34:41Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > The question is way to broad. You need to specify what job the soldier has. There’s a huge difference between an infantryman and communications guy. Infantry. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/4 "2010-10-29T04:09:38Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > The question is way to broad. You need to specify what job the soldier has. There’s a huge difference between an infantryman and communications guy. > > There is a common misconception by civilians that being in the military in and of itself puts you at an elevated risk of getting killed. The overwhelming majority of jobs in all branches of the military are very safe and rarely exposed to higher risk than the guy working at best buy. I remember reading an article a couple of years back that said eightteen year old men serving in the armed forces in Iraq have a lower deathrate than eightteen year old men living in Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/5 "2010-10-29T05:00:21Z")
Back of the envelope calculation… The most dangerous year in Iraq for US troops in Iraq was 2007, when 900 troops died. That year there were 146,000 US troops in Iraq. So that is a fatality rate of around 20 per 1000. That is far more than than mortality rate in the general US population ages 15-24 (0.9 per 1000). But this doesn’t take into account things like: - Only a small percentage of the US army was in Iraq at any given time - Any given soldier was only in Iraq for a limited length tour of duty - Most of the troops in Iraq would be cooks, administrators, etc, not front line troops (though this of course would make the death rate for those front line troops much higher). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/6 "2010-10-29T05:52:18Z")
Plus, you are looking only at soldiers in Iraq, not soldiers generally. And you have picked the worst year in in Iraq. The OP isnt about US soldiers in a combat theatre, or even about US soldiers serving at a time when the US is engaged in a major combat. It’s just about US soldiers. My guess is that the death rate is highly variable, depending on whether their happens to be a major combat during the period surveyed and, for any individual, whether he or she is posted to the combat zone and in what capacity. In the long run, you’d expect the death rate to be somewhat higher than for the civilian population. At least some of the time the US is engaged in major combats, and soldiers are much more likely to find themselves in combat zones than the rest of the population. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/7 "2010-10-29T14:01:44Z")
When I was in the Army, the biggest risk to my health was misunderstanding the tower over the radio and almost getting hit by a UH-60 as I crossed the runway. But that was only a single occurrence. These days, I have to worry about robots killing me. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/8 "2010-10-29T14:33:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I remember reading an article a couple of years back that said eightteen year old men serving in the armed forces in Iraq have a lower deathrate than eightteen year old men living in Los Angeles. My room mate (a Latino male in his late 50’s) joined the Army when he was 17 and went to Vietnam because he thought it was safer than going to high school in east Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/9 "2010-10-29T14:39:40Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Back of the envelope calculation… > > The most dangerous year in Iraq for US troops in Iraq was 2007, when 900 troops died. That year there were 146,000 US troops in Iraq. So that is a fatality rate of around 20 per 1000. That is far more than than mortality rate in the general US population ages 15-24 (0.9 per 1000). To be fair most of the military is men so to be more accurate you’d have to compare the mortaily of men or at least weight the average. Then you’d also have to compare it by race. Black males of that age group are significantly higher than average. Then you’d have to figure out a scheme to weight the numbers so it’s a better comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/10 "2010-10-29T14:50:45Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > These days, I have to worry about robots killing me. Dude, Fallout: New Vegas is _just a game_. Honest! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/11 "2010-10-29T14:52:56Z")
My brother served in the military during peacetime, mostly in/around Turkey. I was surprised at the number of non fatal injuries he related. Then again, he was jumping out of planes. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/12 "2010-10-29T20:08:32Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > The question is way to broad. You need to specify what job the soldier has. There’s a huge difference between an infantryman and communications guy. > > There is a common misconception by civilians that being in the military in and of itself puts you at an elevated risk of getting killed. The overwhelming majority of jobs in all branches of the military are very safe and rarely exposed to higher risk than the guy working at best buy. What I’m getting is that the OP is interested in the relative difference in the danger (of injury and death) of being a US infantryman vs. being a cop, firefighter, high-rise construction worker, miner, race car driver, or other position that is often seen as “dangerous” to some significant degree beyond that of a normal 9-5. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/13 "2010-10-29T20:22:23Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > These days, I have to worry about robots killing me. Sign me up! ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/14 "2010-10-29T23:09:39Z")
> [@robert\_andrews](#): > > What I’m getting is that the OP is interested in the relative difference in the danger (of injury and death) of being a US infantryman vs. being a cop, firefighter, high-rise construction worker, miner, race car driver, or other position that is often seen as “dangerous” to some significant degree beyond that of a normal 9-5. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/15 "2010-10-30T02:38:33Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Back of the envelope calculation… > > The most dangerous year in Iraq for US troops in Iraq was 2007, when 900 troops died. That year there were 146,000 US troops in Iraq. So that is a fatality rate of around 20 per 1000. That is far more than than mortality rate in the general US population ages 15-24 (0.9 per 1000). > > But this doesn’t take into account things like: > > - Only a small percentage of the US army was in Iraq at any given time > - Any given soldier was only in Iraq for a limited length tour of duty > - Most of the troops in Iraq would be cooks, administrators, etc, not front line troops (though this of course would make the death rate for those front line troops much higher). I don’t understand your calculation. (900/146000)\*1000 = 6. However the OP specified all infantry. I do not know how many infantry were in the Army in 2007 nor do I know how many infantry were in Iraq in 2007. Care to explain the 20 per 1000? how did you arrive at that number? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/16 "2010-10-30T17:14:02Z")
In the Wiki article on the battle of Stalingrad, it says that an incoming soldier could expect to be killed w/i one day of battle. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/17 "2010-10-30T17:59:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I remember reading an article a couple of years back that said eightteen year old men serving in the armed forces in Iraq have a lower deathrate than eightteen year old men living in Los Angeles. Apples/oranges. Servicemen aren’t admitted to duty unless they are in pretty good physical condition, and training involves further toughening. Army troops are not a random selection of any population, even for their age. > [@Leo Bloom](#): > > In the Wiki article on the battle of Stalingrad, it says that an incoming soldier could expect to be killed w/i one day of battle. And the life expectancy at Omaha Beach was measured in _seconds._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/18 "2010-10-30T20:13:42Z")
> [@robert\_andrews](#): > > What I’m getting is that the OP is interested in the relative difference in the danger (of injury and death) of being a US infantryman vs. being a cop, firefighter, high-rise construction worker, miner, race car driver, or other position that is often seen as “dangerous” to some significant degree beyond that of a normal 9-5. I believe being a farmer is the most dangerous job in America. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/19 "2010-10-30T20:39:46Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > I don’t understand your calculation. (900/146000)\*1000 = 6. > > However the OP specified all infantry. I do not know how many infantry were in the Army in 2007 nor do I know how many infantry were in Iraq in 2007. > > Care to explain the 20 per 1000? how did you arrive at that number? The same sum you did, only you got it right 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723/20 "2010-10-30T21:39:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I believe being a farmer is the most dangerous job in America. There’s a lot of websites on the subject. The ones I checked had timber cutter and fisherman at numbers one and two, but the order varied. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-being-a-u-s-soldier-compared-with-other-occupations/558723.md?page=2)