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Deadly Military Crashes Show Training Can Be As Dangerous As War

Two accidents show the military training can be as dangerous as combat.

GettyImages-72963626
GettyImages-72963626

U.S. troops are back in Iraq and still fighting in Afghanistan. But a pair of crashes Monday show offered a grim reminder of the dangers facing even troops who are far from the war zones.

U.S. troops are back in Iraq and still fighting in Afghanistan. But a pair of crashes Monday show offered a grim reminder of the dangers facing even troops who are far from the war zones.

On Monday, six U.S soldiers were killed in separate incidents at home and abroad. The first accident took place in South Korea, where an AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed in Wonju, about 80 miles east of Seoul, killing both pilots. The second took place at Fort Hood in Texas, where a UH-60 chopper crash Monday left all four crew members dead. The Pentagon has yet to identify the dead soldiers.

To put the deaths of those six service members in perspective, it’s useful to look at the casualty statistics from Iraq and Afghanistan, two countries where American troops are stationed and in harm’s way. According to icasualties.org, only one American soldier has been killed so far this year in Iraq —  Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler of Roland, Oklahoma, a Delta Force veteran who was killed during a rescue operation in At-Tamim province in October.

That same database shows that sixteen U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan this year. Five of them died due to hostile fire. The rest were killed during other operations, including separate helicopter and aircraft crashes in October.

Photo Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

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