Illness incidence during military operations as a soft operations research factor

Medical and manpower planners must factor in the impact of unit attrition on the resource requirements of combat operations. While wounded-in-action (WIA) and killed-in-action (KIA) incidence are the most conspicuous examples of battlefield attrition, the incidence of disease and nonbattle injuries (DNBI) also represents a substantial source of personnel noneffectiveness. For operations of moderate to high battle intensity, a significant statistical relationship was observed between casualty rates and DNBI incidence. The dynamics of battlefield DNBI attrition was postulated as the confluence of naturally occurring (peacetime) DNBI incidence with increases in illness incidence resulting from battle fatigue and a weakened immunological system's ability to fend off disease.