Line-of-duty injury or illness in an Air National Guard unit

Line-of-duty injuries or illnesses (LODs) suffered by members of Air National Guard units may demonstrate the status of unit safety, unit readiness and deployability, a potentially significant area of unit expenditures, and areas of needed health promotion. This descriptive pilot study was conducted at the unit commander's request to investigate an apparent doubling of the expected number of LODs over a recent quarterly period. Twenty cases were investigated. The vast majority of LODs were musculoskeletal in nature. Decreased fitness level (identified as increased body mass index) among males and increased age were related to increased LODs. Recommendations are given to improve tracking, identify individuals at increased risk, provide pretraining assessment, and institute health promotion focused on musculoskeletal injuries.