Naval History and Heritage Command

Congressional
Research Service
Informing the legislative debate since 1914

A Guide to U. S. Military Casualty Statistics:
Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation New
Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and
Operation Enduring Freedom

Hannah Fischer
Information Research Specialist

November 20, 2014

Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS22452

CRS REPORT
Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

Summary

This report presents statistics regarding U. S. military casualties in the active missions Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR, Iraq and Syria) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF, Afghanistan), as well as operations that have ended, Operation New Dawn (OND, Iraq) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF, Iraq). This report includes statistics on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), amputations, evacuations, and the demographics of casualties. Some of these statistics are publicly available at the Department of Defense's (DOD's) website and others have been obtained through contact with experts at DOD.

This report will be updated as needed.

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Overall Casualties in OIR, OIF, OND, and OEF

On August 31, 2010, President Obama announced that the U. S. combat mission in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, or OIF) had ended.¹ A transitional force of U.S. troops remained in Iraq under Operation New Dawn (OND), which ended on December 15, 2011.² (For more information on war dates, see CRS Report RS21405, U.S. Periods of War and Dates of Current Conflicts, by Barbara Salazar Torreon.) Several thousand U.S. civilian personnel, contract personnel, and a limited number of U.S. military personnel remain in Iraq carrying out U.S. government business and cooperative programs under the auspices of agreements with the Iraqi government. 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).³

Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) began on October 7, 2001, and is primarily located in Afghanistan. OEF is ongoing.

Daily updates of total U.S. military casualties in OND, OIF, and OEF can be found at the Department of Defense's (DOD's) website, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf. Table 1 gives the overall casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF.

Table 1. Overall Casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF, 2001-2014

(as of October 30, 2014)

Source: Table compiled by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

a. Department of Defense (DOD), "Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) U.S. Casualty Status," Fatalities as of October 30, 2014, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.

b. DOD, "Operation New Dawn (OND) U.S. Casualty Status," Fatalities as of October 30, 2014, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.

c. DOD, "Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) U.S. Casualty Status," Fatalities as of October 30, 2014, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.

d. DOD, "Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) U.S. Casualty Status," Fatalities as of October 30, 2014, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.

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¹ The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the End of Combat Operations in Iraq, August 31, 2010, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/31/remarks-president-address-nation-end-combat-operations-iraq.

² Remarks by the President and First Lady on the End of the War in Iraq, December 14, 2011, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/14/remarks-president-and-first-lady-end-war-iraq.

³ U.S. Department of Defense, "Centcom Designates Ops Against ISIL as 'Inherent Resolve'," October 15, 2014, at http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=123422&source=GovDelivery.

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), using the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS), provided the statistics on the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases. According to Dr. Michael Carino of the OSG, a case of PTSD is defined as an individual having at least two outpatient visits or one or more hospitalizations at which PTSD was diagnosed. The threshold of two or more outpatient visits is used in the DMSS to increase the likelihood that the individual has, or had, PTSD. A single visit on record commonly reflects someone who was evaluated for possible PTSD, but did not actually meet the criteria for diagnosis.

All those who have been diagnosed as having PTSD during deployment were diagnosed at least 30 days after they deployed. However, it is not possible to be certain that the PTSD resulted from an event associated with the deployment. The PTSD could have resulted from an event that occurred prior to a deployment.⁴ OIR began after the cut-off date, therefore its numbers are not included.

Table 2. Annual New Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnoses in All Services,

2000-2014
(as of September 5, 2014)

Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, September 11, 2014. Data from Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS).

Note: "Deployed" incident cases indicate a deployment to OEF/OIF/OND for longer than 30 days.

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⁴ CRS communication with Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense liaison, September 21, 2010.

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Figure 1. Annual Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnoses in All Services,

2000-2014
(as of September 5, 2014)

Traumatic Brain Injury

Many statistics on traumatic brain injury (TBI) are available to the public at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, at http://dvbic.dcoe.mil/dod-worldwide-numbers-tbi. Unlike PTSD numbers, which are broken out by those deployed and those not previously deployed, TBI numbers represent medical diagnoses of TBI that occurred anywhere U.S. forces are located, including the continental United States.⁵ OIR began after the cut-off date, therefore its numbers are not included.

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⁵ Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center at http://www.dvbic.org/dod-worldwide-numbers-tbi. The DOD categorizes TBI cases as mild, moderate, severe, or penetrating. Mild TBI is characterized by a confused or disoriented state lasting less than 24 hours; loss of consciousness for up to 30 minutes; memory loss lasting less than 24 hours; and structural brain imaging that yields normal results. Moderate TBI is characterized by a confused or disoriented state that lasts more than 24 hours; loss of consciousness for more than 30 minutes, but less than 24 hours; memory loss lasting greater than 24 hours but less than seven days; and structural brain imaging yielding normal or abnormal results. Severe TBI is characterized by a confused or disoriented state that lasts more than 24 hours; loss of consciousness for more than 24 hours; memory loss for more than seven days; and structural brain imaging yielding normal or abnormal results. A penetrating TBI, or open head injury, is a head injury in which the dura mater, the outer layer of the system of membranes that envelops the central nervous system, is penetrated. Penetrating injuries can be caused by high-velocity projectiles or objects of lower velocity, such as knives, or bone fragments from a skull fracture that are driven into the brain. "Not Classifiable" indicates additional incident information is required prior to TBI categorization.

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Table 3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by Classification and Service, 2000-2014 Q2

(as of August 19, 2014)

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014 (Q2)	Totals
Severe or Penetrating	199	198	174	206	256	275	349	428	548	648	379	357	248	116	72	4,642
Moderate	591	612	560	560	740	780	878	1,353	1,242	1,167	1,102	1,069	916	754	465	13,603
Mild	3,167	3,678	4,074	4,454	5,521	6,238	7,866	12,402	15,245	15,152	15,793	17,346	16,102	10,235	5,817	146,413
Not Classifiable	675	507	436	287	225	271	170	336	2,583	1,872	1,306	2,175	1,938	1,550	774	15,060
Total	4,632	4,995	5,244	5,507	6,742	7,564	9,263	14,519	19,618	18,839	18,580	20,947	19,204	12,655	7,128	179,718
Severe or Penetrating	88	113	90	91	98	81	54	57	46	46	43	44	38	20	17	958
Moderate	346	367	312	340	292	336	229	261	223	194	169	174	200	144	136	3,825
Mild	1,475	1,617	2,023	2,093	2,351	2,377	2,320	2,442	2,482	2,677	2,554	2,662	2,937	2,076	1,306	34,234
Not Classifiable	555	364	258	211	71	62	62	64	69	91	87	143	130	97	82	2,353
Total	2,464	2,461	2,683	2,735	2,812	2,856	2,665	2,824	2,820	3,008	2,853	3,023	3,305	2,337	1,541	41,370
Severe or Penetrating	75	78	67	81	67	63	55	57	49	52	48	61	43	30	15	867
Moderate	331	317	278	252	248	232	220	225	208	232	220	193	202	155	100	3,535
Mild	1,430	1,698	1,947	2,216	2,366	2,282	2,255	2,410	2,298	2,887	3,058	3,141	3,267	2,250	1,544	35,997
Not Classifiable	241	155	132	76	128	78	41	46	70	64	71	129	143	110	68	1,515
Total	2,077	2,248	2,424	2,625	2,809	2,655	2,571	2,738	2,625	3,235	3,397	3,524	3,655	2,545	1,727	41,914
Severe or Penetrating	90	86	60	75	97	92	89	86	74	90	74	97	68	30	15	1,159
Moderate	343	374	291	275	294	269	295	391	254	282	324	322	210	171	148	4,407
Mild	1,107	1,313	1,604	1,518	1,692	2,009	2,123	2,634	3,008	3,292	3,797	4,396	3,705	2,298	1,413	36,705
Not Classifiable	245	142	101	80	73	86	31	25	63	131	163	316	259	214	110	2,009
Total	1,785	1,915	2,056	1,948	2,156	2,456	2,538	3,136	3,399	3,795	4,358	5,131	4,242	2,713	1,686	44,280
Grand Total	10,958	11,619	12,407	12,815	14,519	15,531	17,037	23,217	28,462	28,877	29,188	32,625	30,406	20,250	12,082	307,282

Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, September 11^th, 2014. Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, http://www.dvbic.org/dod-worldwide-numbers-tbi.

Note: Deployed and not previously deployed are combined.

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Figure 2. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) by Classification, 2000-2014 Q2,

(as of August 19, 2014)

Note: Deployed and not previously deployed are combined.

Figure 3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Over Time, 2000-2014 Q2,

(as of August 19, 2014)

Note: Deployed and not previously deployed are combined.

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Major Limb Amputations⁶

Table 4 shows the number of individuals with battle-injury major limb amputations for OIF, OND, and OEF. 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. The total number of amputations in OIF, OND, and OEF as of September 1, 2014, is 1,573. OIR began after the cutoff date, therefore its numbers are not included.

Table 4. Individuals with Battle-Injury Major Limb Amputations for OEF, OIF, and OND, 2001-2014

(as of September 1, 2014)

Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, September 11, 2014.

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⁶ A previous update of this report included major and minor limb amputations. However, statistics on minor limb amputations were not available for this update.

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From 2003 until the first quarter of 2009, the majority of the major limb amputations due to battle injuries occurred in OIF. In the second quarter of 2009, however, the trend changed, and since that time, the majority of the major limb amputations due to battle injuries have occurred in OEF. Figure 4 charts the number of major limb amputations due to a battle injury in OIF, OND, and OEF from 2001 through September 1, 2013, for all services.

Figure 4. Major Limb Amputations Due to Battle Injuries in OIF, OND, and OEF, 2001-2014

(as of September 1, 2014)

Self-Inflicted Wounds

According to DOD's casualty website, as of November 5, 2014, 235 servicemembers died of self-inflicted wounds while serving in OIF and OND and 114 died of self-inflicted wounds while serving in OEF.⁷ Currently, there is no casualty summary by category for OIR.

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⁷ Department of Defense Personnel and Procurement Statistics, Statistical Information and Analysis Department, OIF at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_oif_type.xhtml, OND at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/ report_ond_type.xhtml, and OEF at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_oef_type.xhtml.

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Gender Distribution of Deaths

Table 5 and Table 6 provide statistics on the gender distribution of OIF, OND, and OEF casualties. All numbers for OIF, OND, and OEF are current as of November 5, 2014. Currently, there is no casualty summary by demographics for OIR. Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.

Table 5. OIF and OND Gender Distribution of Deaths, 2002-2014

(as of November 5, 2014)

Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/ casualties.xhtml.

Table 6. OEF Gender Distribution of Deaths, 2001-2014

(as of November 5, 2014)

Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/ casualties.xhtml.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths

Table 7 and Table 8 provide statistics on the race and ethnicity distribution of OIF, OND, and OEF casualties. All numbers for OIF, OND, and OEF are current as of November 5, 2014. Percentages do not total 100 because servicemembers may be listed twice, once under a race (such as "White") and once under an ethnicity (such as "Hispanic or Spanish").

Table 7. OIF and OND Race and Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths, 2002-2014

(as of November 5, 2014)

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Table 8. OEF Race and Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths, 2000-2014

(as of November 5, 2014)

Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml.

Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml.

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