By Michael Schindler

There’s a very real killer awaiting our troops when they get home – and only time will reduce its influence on what has been becoming a very negative outcome. The past few weeks have produced headlines on troop suicides, and while quite devastating, suicide is ranked as the seventh most-frequent reason for death – car accidents are number 1.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, car accidents are the leading cause of troop deaths. The “drive to survive” training that keeps our troops alive on foreign soil is not doing them any favors back at home and the failure to quickly adapt is leading to increased accidents and even deaths back here in the U.S.

USAA, a leading military personnel insurer, looked at 171,000-plus deployments, and saw “a 13 percent increase in at-fault accidents” among troops that had just returned stateside.

That’s a 13 percent jump, overall, in wrecks caused by post-deployment personnel.

The risk rises 22 percent among enlisted troops. And the increase was a startling 36 percent for individuals with three or more deployments under their belts.

My chaplain friend who is currently deployed in Afghanistan had this to say:

Those of us who drive NTVs (non-tactical vehicles known to everyone else as Toyota SUVs) have an interesting driving experience to share. While we continue driving on the right side of the road, the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the truck. How funny is that? Of course, since I am most often the passenger, I get the best experience of all. I get to face the oncoming traffic while gripping the dash board, yelling at my driver to “Move over to right!! No! Your other right!!!”

In the next five years, our communities across America will experience some 1 million troops returning back to civilian life. The transition to civilian life will take grace, patience and understanding. Start now by understanding what your community can do to be a part of the solution – one that just might save lives.

You can read more on troop accidents here.

For more information on how to become part of the solution, visit: www.OperationMilitaryFamily.com

Michael Schindler, Navy veteran, and president of Edmonds-based Operation Military Family, is a guest writer for several national publications, author of the book “Operation Military Family” and “The Military Wire” blog. He is also a popular keynote and workshop speaker who reaches thousands of service members and their families every year through workshops and seminars that include  “How to Battle-Ready Your Relationship” or “What Your Mother-in-Law Didn’t Tell You.”  He received the 2010 Outstanding Patriotic Service Award from the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs.