National Guard Deaths

Here's a sobering fact emerging from the Iraq War, and one that might lend some credence to Army National Guard complaints that they're getting second-rate hand-me-downs from the Pentagon; USA Today reports that Guard troops are one-third more likely than active-duty military to die in the conflict.

The Dec. 12 story reads:

"According to figures furnished by the military branches, the active Army has sent about 250,000 soldiers to Iraq, and 622 have been killed. That works out to one death for every 402 soldiers who have deployed. About 37,000 Army Guard soldiers have been sent to Iraq since the war began and 140 have died there — one fatality for every 264 soldiers who have served, or about a 35% higher death rate."

The newspaper offers several explanations for the higher death rate, including fewer drills among part-time soldiers and a number of particularly ominous missions, such as driving convoys and guarding bases.

"The elevated death rates among part-time soldiers are a significant shift from the past," the article states.

"During most wars in the last century, the full-time military took most of the casualties, and their troops were much more likely to die in battle than Guardsmen and reservists.

"In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, for example, the Army Guard suffered no fatalities out of 382 U.S. deaths. A total of 94 Army National Guardsmen and no reservists were killed out of 58,209 U.S. deaths in Vietnam.

" 'It's a changed paradigm,' says Richard Stark, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 'We have completely crossed the line in terms of what it is to be a citizen-soldier.'"