What Will Decrease Training Deaths? More Training, GAO Says
A recent increase in non-combat vehicle deaths could be reversed with more, better training, GAO’s newest report says.
By Elizabeth Howe
Assistant Editor, Defense One
August 6, 2021
A number of high-profile training mishap deaths in recent years drew attention to the Defense Department’s resurging problem with non-combat fatalities. The number of deaths in training vehicle accidents has more than doubled over the last two reported years, after hitting a 10-year low of seven in 2017.
After the Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle accident that killed nine in July 2020 and the May 2019 death of Lt. Hugh Conor McDowell in a vehicle rollover, Congress requested that the Government Accountability Office report on these specific training deaths. Among the GAO’s findings, presented in a recent report, was that no “prescribed training regimen” is currently being implemented.
“You see very consistent causes—driver inattentiveness, supervision lapses, and the lack of training,” said Cary Russell, director of GAO’s Defense Capabilities and Management office. “When you look at what we’ve reported, there’s a lot of consistency in terms of application of safety practices and the lack of a good training program.”
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2021/08/what-will-decrease-training-deaths-more-training-gao-says/184347/
