Update: Cold weather injuries, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces, July 2011-June 2016

From July 2015 through June 2016, a total of 447 members of the active (n=383) and reserve (n=64) components had at least one medical encounter with a primary diagnosis of cold injury. The numbers of affected individuals in both components were the lowest since the 2011-2012 cold season, when the total was 394. In the active component, the service-specific incidence rates for each of the four services were lower than the respective rates for the previous (2014-2015) cold season. Frostbite was the most common type of cold injury. During the five cold seasons in the surveillance period (2011-2016), rates tended to be higher among service members who were in the youngest age groups; female; black, non-Hispanic; or in the Army. The numbers of cold injuries associated with service in Iraq and Afghanistan have fallen precipitously in the past four cold seasons and included just 11 cases in the most recent year.