The Burden of Disability among Active Duty Air Force Members

The objectives of this literature review were to examine the available statistics pertaining to disability within the United States Air Force USAF to identify prominent types of injuries faced by active duty personnel, including their classification, which result in disability discharge and to make recommendations for strategies that policy makers can use to combat this issue. This report describes the current state of the burden of disability among active duty Air Force members. The report describes the types of injuries that active duty service members sustain, and the subsequent disabilities that frequently result. Many service members are discharged from active service, and Department of Defense disability costs continue to rise at an alarming rate. The authors ongoing and future work in disability prevention will utilize the information contained in this report. An annotated bibliography of the journal articles reviewed for this study is included.