The United States has had a global influence since the end of the second world war, and there are many military installations and bases spanning the globe. While a lot of the money and personnel that the United States uses for military defense does stay within the country, there are also a lot of soldiers who are stationed overseas.
This doesn’t mean that they are in a combat zone. They may simply be stationed at an Air Force base in Europe. Going to work every day just means performing duties on the base, not necessarily being involved in any sort of combat or the other cliche operations that the military undertakes. A lot of these workers are just doing standard jobs like you would have at any business, helping to keep the military base running properly.
So how many people are stationed at these bases? How common is this?
600 different locations
The first thing to know is that the military has more than 600 locations that fall under its umbrella. Some of them are major military bases that are always ready for an armed conflict. Others may be as simple as gas stations and warehouses for storing petroleum and other materials. But there are a wide variety of these locations spanning the globe.
The sheer number of service members who work at these locations does change every year, depending on a lot of factors. For instance, many people got to come home at the end of the war in Afghanistan. But the statistics show that there were still more than 170,000 service members who were stationed overseas in both 2020 and 2021, so it is very common for people to have these assignments.
And what if you get injured overseas?
With this many people working at military bases and installations, the odds of an injury are very high. Once again, this doesn’t imply combat or anything of that nature, but may just mean that someone gets hurt on the job due to a fall, an electrocution, being struck by a vehicle or something else that could also happen on many job sites within the U.S.
If you do get injured, things can be a bit more complicated. You need to understand all of the options that are given to you through the Defense Base Act, which helps to extend workers’ compensation benefits. Be sure you know exactly where you stand and what steps to take.
