Last week, the military experienced several high-profile training accidents that left a total of 10 people dead. On Thursday, June 2, in unrelated incidents, a Blue Angels F-18 and a F-16 Thunderbird crashed. The pilot of the Thunderbird was able to safely eject; however, the Blue Angels pilot, Capt. Jeff Kuss, was killed in the accident.
That same day, a deadly truck accident killed nine soldiers and injured three more in Fort Hood, Texas, when the vehicle got stuck and overturned at a low-water crossing following several days of heavy rains and flooding.
And on June 7, two South Carolina Air National Guard F-16 fighter pilots crashed midair in eastern Georgia Tuesday night during routine night-flying operations. Luckily both pilots were able to eject safely.
Could these accidents have been prevented?
On episode 21 of Task & Purpose Radio, Lauren, Weirick, and Nate discuss training and readiness and whether there’s a correlation between budget cuts and accidents across the military.
Download episode 21, “The Impact Of 15 Years Of War On Military Readiness” on iTunes. Also, subscribe so you never miss an episode.
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