Basic training deaths are rare in the Army

COLUMBIA -- As Pvt. Dominique Gibson-Brooks readied for an early morning road march, she collapsed on the barracks floor. By sunrise, she was dead.

Two days later, Pvt. Derryl Britt died after being stricken while running.

Three weeks after Britt's death, Pvt. Andrea Rosser fell to her knees while trying to complete a two-mile run. She died just hours later.

In a month, three soldiers between 19 and 21 years old died while in basic training at Fort Jackson, the Army's largest training post.

The Army says the deaths, which occurred in September and October, were unrelated. The fallen soldiers were in separate units, under the supervision of different drill sergeants.

Two of the three died of natural causes an embolism and a brain hemorrhage, officials said. The third also appeared to have died of natural causes, although a final determination is pending.

Still, Fort Jackson leaders say they are investigating the circumstances surrounding the soldiers' deaths to see whether the Army should change training procedures.

"Right now, we don't see a cause of death from anything we are doing," said Fort Jackson spokesman Pat Jones.

Deaths of soldiers in basic training are rare, and even more so when they die of natural causes.

"These three deaths were totally random, bizarre circumstances," said Army physician Lt. Col. Kevin Smith, deputy commander of the Military Entrance Processing Command, which processes recruits for all the military services.

Statistics show that soldiers in basic training are more likely to die when they are away from their bases and miles from the watchful eyes of drill sergeants.

Not counting the recent deaths, in the past five years five soldiers have died of natural causes and three others in accidents at the Army's five basic training posts, said Training and Doctrine Command spokesman Harvey Perritt.

During the same period, 14 soldiers died while off duty and away from their training bases, Perritt added.

Besides Fort Jackson, where some 50,000 soldiers train annually, the Army conducts basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Knox, Ky., Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and Fort Sill, Okla.

Across the U.S. military, a 2004 study found that, during a 25-year period, 126 of 6.3 million recruits died unexpectedly. That is, they did not suffer any trauma.

What killed the troops at Fort Jackson might have been inside their bodies for years and fatal conditions only became apparent at the time of death.

"For whatever reason, it was the right circumstances at the wrong time," Smith said.

Before joining the Army, recruits must complete a medical history, while another health screening is done by recruiters.

During the medical exam, before shipping to training bases, doctors look at the body's "big systems," like the heart, lungs and stomach, and review the medical histories, Smith said.

In some cases, recruits aren't aware a health problem exists. In other cases, it's possible the recruits know they have a problem, but they might lie on the form, Smith said.

"There are a good number of people who withhold information or outright lie about the information hoping that it never gets detected," Smith said.

In the past five years, there have been 22 deaths at five posts where soldiers take basic training.

• Eight deaths happened when soldiers were on duty. Five were related to heat or physical training; two were weapons-related; and one, electrocution.

• 14 deaths happened when the soldiers were off duty -- seven when the soldiers were en route to their next duty station; four while they were serving as hometown recruiters; two on Christmas leave; one during holiday weekend.

Note: Total does not include three recent deaths at Fort Jackson.

SOURCE: Army's Training and Doctrine Command

This story was originally published November 18, 2008 at 12:31 AM.