Medical evacuations from Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces, 2003-2011.

From January 2003 to December 2011, over 50,000 service members were medically evacuated from the Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation New Dawn (OND) theater of combat operations to a medical treatment facility outside of theater. During the period, the numbers and underlying causes of medical evacuations sharply varied in relation to the numbers of deployed service members and the natures of ongoing military operations. There were nearly five times as many medical evacuations for disease and non-battle injuries than for battle-related conditions. The majority of medical evacuations (87%) occurred among males; the major causes of medical evacuations differed among male and female deployers. Based on these findings, force health protection policies and practices should be tailored to the characteristics of the deployed force and the nature of the military operation.