The human toll — military and civilian casualties — of U.S. military operations over the past 14 years was 6,855 dead and 52,251 wounded, according to an August 2015 report compiled by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Hannah Fisher, the author of the paper, compiled publicly available American casualty figures from a period beginning in Oct. 7, 2001, to July 28, 2015.
In her compilation, Fisher includes statistics from the two ongoing missions – Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS, Afghanistan) and Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR, Iraq and Syria) – as well as from past operations that include Operation New Dawn (OND, Iraq), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF, Iraq) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF, Afghanistan).
Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, the operation to “continue training, advising, and assisting Afghan security forces,” that started on Jan. 1, 2015, has so far cost the lives of three Americans and wounded 33. Its predecessor, Operation Enduring Freedom (Oct. 7, 2001 – Dec. 28, 2014) resulted in 2,355 dead and 20,071 wounded in action.
The majority of American military and civilian casualties in the last decade occurred during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003 and ended on Aug. 31, 2010.
“A transitional force of U.S. troops remained in Iraq under Operation New Dawn (OND), which ended on December 15, 2011,” the report states, during which an additional 66 Americans died and 295 were wounded.
According to the study, “on October 15, 2014, U.S. Central Command designated new military operations in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR)” – a campaign that so far has resulted in seven Americans killed and one serviceman wounded.
The grim statistical compilation also includes numbers on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and amputations that occurred in the 2000-2015 time period. The report notes 177,461 cases of post-traumatic stress disorder between 2000 (no month is given for that year) and June 2015 among both deployed and not previously deployed personnel in all services.
The total of traumatic brain injury incidents during the same time period is reported at of 327,299 with the majority (269,580) classified as “mild” injuries. In addition, 1,645 men and women had to endure major limb amputation between Oct. 7, 2001 and June 1, 2015.
“A major limb amputation includes the loss of one or more limbs, the loss of one or more partial limbs, or the loss of one or more full or partial hand or foot,” according to the Congressional Research Service.
As reported by Fisher, in March 2015, the American military is more or less a middle-class force. And while the number of total casualties of America’s wars appears high, the Senate Armed Forces will not face a manpower shortage anytime soon because of it. However, the United States could soon have less military personnel available for other reasons. The March report pointed out that the declining health of America’s youth may very well lead to a manpower shortage in the near future. For example, in 2013, according to the report, among the 17- to 24-year-old youth population in the country, there were only an estimated 17 percent “qualified military available”(QMA), i.e. young people not enrolled in college and qualified to enlist in the U.S. military without a waiver.
USMC policy review
The long-awaited results of an internal review of the Corps’ tattoo policy may be pushed out to Marines as early as this month, the top enlisted Marine said this week. The Marine Corps expects to release a service-wide administrative message announcing the review’s findings within weeks, Sgt. Maj. Ronald Green told Marine Corps Times in an exclusive interview.
The message is expected to provide Marines with better clarity on their tattoo policy — but it first must be reviewed by Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford. Multiple Pentagon sources have said the panel reviewing the tattoo policy recommended no major changes, and the forthcoming message will only clarify and reconcile any inconsistencies.
But Green said nothing was certain until the commandant gave final approval.
“The policy’s not final until he signs it,” Green said, adding that Dunford could still send it back and tell them to take another stab at it. While Green did not detail the changes, pending Dunford’s final approval, he said professional image had been a top concern in examining possible changes while ensuring that “every Marine is heard in formulating this policy.”
“America … (looks) for a certain image in the Marine Corps,” Green said. “We want to make sure that the image that we project is the image that America wants (and one) that the Marine Corps can live with.”
Marines have long complained about the Corps’ tattoo policy, calling it too restrictive and confusing. In April, Sgt. Daniel Knapp, a North Carolina-based infantryman who was the subject of a Marine Corps Times cover story, said the unclear policy cost him his career.
When he got a crossed rifles tattoo on his arm, Knapp said he didn’t know it would run afoul of the service’s policy. He had the tattoo for four years before it became an issue, he said.
“They didn’t have an issue meritoriously promoting me when I had a tattoo,” he said. “I had never heard anything about my tattoos. Nothing was said until I went to the career planner.”
Green said service leaders are committed to making sure the new policy is clearly written so it can be easily understood and enforced. The policy message will be accompanied by visual aids that clearly illustrate tattoos that fall in and out of regulation. Those visual guides are expected to be available online and on smartphone applications.
The review of the Corps’ tattoo policy, which is overseen by top enlisted leaders, was first announced in late March in response to feedback from Marines. Marine working groups have been meeting to solidify details about potential policy changes, said Maj. Rob Dolan, a spokesman for Marine Corps Manpower and Reserve Affairs, which is also involved in the review.
Green said Marines are ready for any changes to be set so they can make decisions about tattoos without fear for their careers.
“The consensus I’ve gotten lately, traveling around, is they don’t want to talk about it anymore,” he said. “They just want the policy.” Regardless of what the final policy update permits, Green said he expects Marines to fall in line. “Once that policy goes out, that MARADMIN, (the commandant) expects every Marine to take a full 30-inch step and follow the policy,” Green said. “That’s the end state.”