Australian Soldiers More Likely to Be Killed By Stupidity at Home Than By the Taliban

This is sad but true:

OUR finest soldiers are deployed to the heat of battle in warzones worldwide.

But it is in the heat of a drinking session that they are more likely to become a casualty.

Top
brass are so alarmed by figures showing how many troops are injured and
killed in accidents well away from the front line that they have warned
soldiers against “irresponsible stupidity”, The Daily Telegraph reports.

“The
concept of work hard, play hard must not be confused with irresponsible
stupidity which can creep into non-operational and off-duty
activities,” Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, told Army News.

Since 2006 more than eight times the number of Australian soldiers have died accidentally or from natural causes than in war.

The
injury rate for troops, on and off duty, is more than 40 times greater
at home than it is at the front. A total of 2612 have been badly hurt
by accidents or illness compared with about 70 wounded in Afghanistan
since April 1, 2006.  [The Daily Telegraph]