Battle Injury Patterns Sustained Noncombatant Military Occupational Specialty Service Members

Area of Science:

• Military medicine
• Trauma research
• Operational health

Background:

• The Global War on Terrorism has involved US military personnel in asymmetric warfare for nearly two decades.
• This conflict has exposed personnel in noncombat military occupational specialties (MOS) to combat environments.
• Assessing the proportion of casualties from noncombat MOS is crucial for understanding the full scope of military injuries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the proportion of US military casualties in recent conflicts who were from noncombat MOS.
• To compare injury patterns, resource utilization, and survival rates between combat and noncombat MOS personnel.
• To identify data gaps regarding noncombat MOS personnel battle injuries for future planning.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of the Department of Defense Trauma Registry (DODTR) data.
• Inclusion of US military casualties with battle injuries from January 2007 to March 2020 and documented MOS.
• Classification of casualties into combat versus noncombat MOS categories.

Main Results:

• 2,037 casualties were analyzed, with 1,554 (76%) in combat MOS and 483 (24%) in noncombat MOS.
• Injury patterns, median injury severity scores (9), and survival rates (98%) were similar between groups.
• Resource consumption was nearly identical, except for ketamine administration (higher in combat MOS).

Conclusions:

• Noncombat MOS personnel constituted approximately 24% of casualties in this cohort.
• Injury profiles and medical resource needs were comparable between combat and noncombat MOS personnel.
• Further research on noncombat MOS battle injuries is needed to inform future military planning and resource allocation.