Spike In Combat Casualties Blamed On Life Insurance Benefits
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Shortly before deploying to Afghanistan, Marine Cpl. Zachary Pace asked his platoon sergeant what seemed like a routine question: would his Servicemembers Group Life Insurance policy, popularly known as SGLI, cover him if he was killed in combat.
Three months later, Cpl. Pace was killed after stepping on an improvised explosive device.
His platoon sergeant is still struggling with whether or not his death would have happened if it hadn't been covered by life insurance.
"Would he have been extra careful while planning his patrol routes, checked his five's and twenty-five's?" asked Staff Sgt. Mark Clatcher. "We'll never know."
Pace's death came as the Pentagon has struggled to curb a seemingly random tide of death that has affected troops, especially those in the Middle East, for over a decade.
"We've been in denial about this problem for too long," explained Anthony Munson, who oversees the Pentagon's Operational Risk Management division. "We kept explaining it away…
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