U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation
New Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and
Operation Enduring Freedom
Hannah Fischer
Information Research Specialist
February 5, 2013
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
RS22452
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Summary
This report presents statistics regarding U.S. military casualties in the active 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, whereas others have been obtained through contact with experts at
DOD.
This report will be updated as needed.


Congressional Research Service

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF


Contents
Overall Casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF ...................................................................................... 5
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ....................................................................................................... 5
Traumatic Brain Injury .................................................................................................................... 7
Amputations ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Self-Inflicted Wounds .................................................................................................................... 10
Gender Distribution of Deaths ....................................................................................................... 11
Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths ........................................................................................... 11
Medical Evacuation Statistics for U.S. Military Personnel ........................................................... 12

Figures
Figure 1. Annual Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnoses in All Services ................................. 7
Figure 2. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 2000-2012 Q2 ................................................................... 8
Figure 3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 2000-2012 Q2 ................................................................... 9
Figure 4. Major-Limb Amputations Due to Battle Injuries in OIF/OND and OEF ...................... 10

Tables
Table 1. Overall Casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF ........................................................................ 5
Table 2. Annual New Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnoses in All Services ........................... 6
Table 3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 2000-2012 Q2..................................................................... 8
Table 4. Individuals with Battle-Injury Amputations by Service for OIF/OND and OEF .............. 9
Table 5. OIF/OND Gender Distribution of Deaths ........................................................................ 11
Table 6. OEF Gender Distribution of Deaths ................................................................................. 11
Table 7. OIF/OND Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths ............................................................ 11
Table 8. OEF Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths ..................................................................... 12
Table 9. OIF/OND Medical Evacuations ....................................................................................... 12
Table 10. OEF Medical Evacuations ............................................................................................. 12

Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 13

Congressional Research Service

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Overall Casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF
On August 31, 2010, President Obama announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq (Operation
Iraqi Freedom, OIF) had ended. A transitional force of U.S. troops remained in Iraq under
Operation New Dawn (OND), which ended on December 15, 2011. 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.
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) is ongoing.
Table 1 gives the overall casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF.
Table 1. Overall Casualties in OIF, OND, and OEF
(as of February 5, 2013)
U.S. Department of
U.S. Servicemember
Defense Civilian
U.S. Servicemembers

Deaths
Deaths
Wounded in Action
Operation Iraqi Freedoma 4,409
13
31,925
Operation New Dawnb 66
0
295
Operation Enduring Freedomc 2,165
3
18,230
a. Department of Defense, “Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) U.S. Casualty Status,” Fatalities as of February 5,
2013, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.
b. Department of Defense, “Operation New Dawn (OND) U.S. Casualty Status,” Fatalities as of February 5,
2013, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.
c. Department of Defense, “Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) U.S. Casualty Status,” Fatalities as of
February 5, 2013, 10 a.m. EDT, at http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf.
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. In
addition, CRS Report R41084, Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians, contains
statistics on Afghan civilian casualties as well as regular updates on American and coalition
fatalities in OEF.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), using the Defense Medical Surveillance
System (DMSS), provided the statistics below 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 the individual deployed. However, it is not possible to be certain that the PTSD
Congressional Research Service
5

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

resulted from an event associated with the deployment. The PTSD could have resulted from an
event that occurred prior to a deployment.1
Table 2 and Figure 1 present yearly PTSD diagnoses for all services.
Table 2. Annual New Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnoses in All Services
(as of December 7, 2012)
Year Not
Deployed Deployed
2000 1,610
0
2001 1,694
0
2002 1,697 133
2003 1,609 1,100
2004 1,777 3,095
2005 1,912 7,015
2006 1,893 7,745
2007 2,272 11,763
2008 2,589 14,405
2009 2,676 13,975
2010 2,638 14,828
2011 2,806 15,702
2012 (to December 3rd) 2,376
14,031
Total 27,549 103,792
Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13, 2012.
Data source is the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS).

1 CRS communication with Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense liaison, September 21, 2010.
Congressional Research Service
6

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Figure 1. Annual Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnoses in All Services
(as of December 7, 2012)
25,000
20,000
15,000
SD Cases 10,000
PT
5,000
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
(Dec.
3)
Total
Not Deployed
Deployed

Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13,
2012. Data source is the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS).Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Traumatic Brain Injury
Of the total 253,330 traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases between January 1, 2000 and August 20,
2012, 194,561 have been mild, 42,063 have been moderate, 6,476 have been severe or
penetrating, and 10,210 have not been classifiable.2 Table 3 and Figure 2 show the relative rates
of mild, moderate, severe, penetrating, and not classifiable TBIs whereas Figure 3 shows the
number of TBI diagnoses over time.

2 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 thirty 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.
Congressional Research Service
7

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Table 3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 2000-2012 Q2
(as of August 20, 2012)
2000-
Incident
2012
2012
Diagnoses 2000
2001
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
2011 Q1-Q2
Q2
Severe or
450 478 380 449 463 407 521 591 686 809 553 525 164 6,476
Penetrating TBI
Moderate TBI
4,150
3,553
3,077 2,643 2,281 1,906 2,466 3,708 3,343 3,751 4,294
4,822
2,089
42,083
Mild TBI
6,326
7,760
8,974 9,770 10,536 9,857 13,919 18,665 21,859 22,673 24,989 25,564
13,669 194,561
Not Classifiablea 37
39 39 36 32 41 52 210 2,679 2,022 1,571 2,238 1,214 10,210
Total Incident
10,963 11,830
12,470
12,898
13,312 12,211 16,958 23,174 28,567 29,255 31,407
33,149 17,136 253,330
Diagnoses
Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13,
2012. Data source is Defense Medical Surveil ance System (DMSS), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center,
http://www.dvbic.org/dod-worldwide-numbers-tbi.
a. Requires additional incident information and further investigation prior to TBI categorization.
Figure 2. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 2000-2012 Q2
(as of August 20, 2012)


Source: Chart provided by Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13, 2012. Data
source is the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center,
http://www.dvbic.org/dod-worldwide-numbers-tbi.
Notes: * Requires additional incident information and further investigation prior to TBI categorization.
Congressional Research Service
8

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Figure 3. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) 2000-2012 Q2
(as of August 20, 2012)
35,000
30,000
25,000
es
20,000
iagnos
15,000
n D
10,000
Incide
5,000
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Q1-Q2
Total Incident Diagnoses
Severe or Penetrating TBI
Moderate TBI
Not Classifiable*

Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13,
2012. Data source is the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS), Defense and Veterans Brain Injury
Center, http://www.dvbic.org/dod-worldwide-numbers-tbi.
Notes: * Requires additional incident information and further investigation prior to TBI categorization.
Amputations
Table 4 shows the number of individuals with battle-injury amputations for OIF/OND and OEF
by service. The total number of amputations in OIF/OND and OEF as of December 3, 2012 is
1,715.
Table 4. Individuals with Battle-Injury Amputations by Service
for OIF/OND and OEF
(as of December 3, 2012)
Theater
Type of Amputation
Army
Marine
Navy
Air Force
Grand Total
OIF/OND
Major Limb (e.g. Leg)
613
161
16
7
797
Minor Limb (e.g. Partial Foot,
156 31 4 3
194
Fingers)
OEF
Major Limb (e.g. Leg)
394
273
16
13
696
Minor Limb (e.g. Partial Foot,
16 8 1 3
28
Fingers)
Total
1,179
473 37 26 1,715
Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13,
2012.
Congressional Research Service
9

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

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 January 2009 through December 2012 for all services. Major limb amputations include
limb(s), partial limb(s), or full or partial hand and/or foot amputations.
Figure 4. Major-Limb Amputations Due to Battle Injuries
in OIF/OND and OEF
(as of January 3, 2013)
80
70
n
io
60
tat
u
p
m
50
A
b
im
r L
40
ajo
30
y, M
ur
20
le In
tt
Ba
10
0
Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4 Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4
2009
2010
2011
2012
OEF OIF OND
OEF
OIF OND

Source: CRS communication with Dr. Michael J. Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, February 5, 2013.
Data from DOD-VA Extremity Trauma & Amputation Center of Excel ence (EACE).
Self-Inflicted Wounds
According to DOD’s casualty website, as of January 9, 2013, 235 servicemembers died of self-
inflicted wounds while serving in OIF/OND and 97 died of self-inflicted wounds while serving in
OEF.3

3 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.
Congressional Research Service
10

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Gender Distribution of Deaths
Table 5 and Table 6 provide statistics on the gender distribution of OIF/OND and OEF casualties
(also available on DOD’s website, http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/). All numbers for OIF/OND
and OEF are current as of January 17, 2013. Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Table 5. OIF/OND Gender Distribution of Deaths
(as of January 17, 2013)
Gender
Military Deaths
% of Total Deaths
Male 4,365
97.5
Female 110
2.5
Total 4,475
100.0
Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml.
Table 6. OEF Gender Distribution of Deaths
(as of January 17, 2013)
Gender
Military Deaths
% of Total Deaths
Male 2,122
98.0
Female 42
2.0
Total 2,164
100.0
Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml.
Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths
Table 7and Table 8 provide statistics on the race and ethnicity distribution of OIF/OND and OEF
casualties (also on DOD’s website, http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas). All numbers for OIF/OND
and OEF are current as of January 17, 2013. Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Table 7. OIF/OND Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths
(as of January 17, 2013)
Race/Ethnicity
Military Deaths
% of Total Deaths
American Indian/Alaska Native
43
1.0
Asian 78
1.7
Black or African American
444
9.9
Native Hawai an or Other Pacific Islander
18
0.4
White 3,696
82.6
Multiple Races
63
1.4
Unknown 133
3.0
Total 4,475
100.0
Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml.
Congressional Research Service
11

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF

Table 8. OEF Race/Ethnicity Distribution of Deaths
(as of January 17, 2013)
Race/Ethnicity
Military Deaths
% of Total Deaths
American Indian/Alaska Native
27
1.3
Asian 58
2.7
Black or African American
170
7.9
Native Hawai an or Other Pacific Islander
6
0.3
White 1,848
85.4
Multiple Races
26
1.2
Unknown 29
1.3
Total 2,164
100.0
Source: Data from Defense Manpower Data Center, at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml.
Medical Evacuation Statistics for U.S. Military
Personnel
There were 52,065 unique servicemembers evacuated for medical reasons from OIF/OND and
23,742 unique servicemembers evacuated for medical reasons from OEF. One servicemember
may have had multiple deployments or multiple evacuation events. Similarly, servicemembers
may be counted in OIF/OND and OEF due to multiple deployments. Table 9 and Table 10 list
total medical evacuations from each theater, not unique servicemember totals. All numbers for
OIF/OND and OEF are current as of December 3, 2012. Percentages may not total 100 due to
rounding.
Table 9. OIF/OND Medical Evacuations
(as of December 3, 2012)
Number
Percentage
OIF/OND Battle Injuries
9,042
16.9
OIF/OND Disease/Non-Battle Injuries
11,607
83.1
Total 20,649
100.0
Source: CRS correspondence with Dr. Michael J. Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13,
2012. Data from Transportation Command (TRASCOM), TRAC2ES.
Table 10. OEF Medical Evacuations
(as of December 3, 2012)
Number
Percentage
OEF Battle Injuries
5,746
23.7
OEF Disease/Non-Battle Injuries
18,463
76.3
Total 24,209
100.0
Source: CRS correspondence with Dr. Michael J. Carino, Army Office of the Surgeon General, December 13,
2012. Data from Transportation Command (TRASCOM), TRAC2ES.
Congressional Research Service
12

---

U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: OND, OIF, and OEF


Author Contact Information

Hannah Fischer

Information Research Specialist
hfischer@crs.loc.gov, 7-8989

Congressional Research Service
13

---