Risk Management Magazine

It was 0200, and the Soldiers were fast asleep. Exhausted by the OPTEMPO of the field training exercise, they had hastily set up their cots in unmarked positions near the perimeter of the battalion main command post, ready to tear down and move out the next day.

What was supposed to be a great weekend hunting with friends came to an abrupt halt when the Soldier fell out of a deer stand and broke his arm.

Losing one Soldier to an unintended discharge from a service or privately owned weapon is one too many, but such accidents have been on the decline across the Army in recent months.