A class of 18-year-olds want to know...

Comment by Sebastian Junger on September 23, 2011 at 10:23am

Hi Melissa - 

 

Thank you for the question - and for reading my book. Statistics aren't fate; they're simply probabilities spread out over the population. As a woman, you statistically have a far smaller chance of dying in an accident or by violence than a young man your age. That does not mean that young women never die in such situations - or that young men are fated to. It just means you are less likely to than a male of your age. Most units in the US army see little if any combat - so the risks are small - and dangerous behaviors such as drinking, drug use, gang activity, etc are severely curtailed. If you are heavy drinker who gets into a lot of bar fights and drives intoxicated, the relatively "boring" life on a military base is probably a safer environment than where you are now. If you dont engage in those activities and you join the army and wind up at an outpost like Restrepo - unlikely but possible - then you'd be in MORE danger in the army. But in the end these are just probabilities, not predictions. 

 

Best wishes,

 

Sebastian

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