As deaths spike, motorcycle training pushed for troops LOS ALAMITOS, Calif.  Pentagon brass got an eye-opener when they examined 2008 casualty figures: More Marines died stateside on motorcycles than were killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. "That was a wake-up call," says Rear Adm. Arthur Johnson, commander of the Naval Safety Center. "It focuses your attention on what your real issues are." The military has become alarmed by a sharp rise in off-duty motorcycle deaths over the past five years, including last year's statistics, even as servicemember deaths in automobile accidents have declined. Rather than try to curtail motorcycle riding, the military is pushing training courses on troops who ride. The Pentagon directives require servicemembers who ride motorcycles to undergo training that goes far beyond the basics, including a course on advanced sportbike techniques adapted from racetrack riding. The training includes psychological self-assessments aimed at identifying and stopping high-risk practices. Master Sgt. Brad Warner, 47, piloting his Harley-Davidson Electra Glide, a heavy touring bike, through the sportbike course, said the adrenaline that sustains soldiers through combat can get them into trouble when they climb on a motorcycle. Warner returned from a tour in Iraq last year without a single death in his unit. Within the first 90 days home, though, a soldier in his unit died shortly after buying his first motorcycle. "Really, you need to come to something like this," he said of the training. At the Joint Forces Training Base here outside Los Angeles, soldiers began instruction last week in a classroom and on a course set up at one end of the air base's busy flightline. Officers whose day job is piloting Black Hawk helicopters were getting instruction on how to improve their cornering, braking and smoothness. First Lt. Algernon Clay, 27, a pilot and Suzuki GSX-R 600 rider, says some find the training humbling. "It's a huge problem that we have — that Superman complex," Clay said. "You know, 'I survived IEDs (improvised explosive devices), bazookas, whatever.' " Marines can't register their motorcycles on base and are subject to discipline if they ride without training. So far, 700 of the estimated 18,000 motorcycle-riding Marines have taken the course, said Peter Hill, the Marine Corps' senior safety engineer. "We work very closely with the military in delivering the training program," says Charlie Fernandez, operations director for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a group funded by the motorcycle industry that helped Army and Navy officials design the curriculum. "It's been very well received." The Army is now offering its version, Fernandez said. Instructor Brett Sholtis, a civilian who spent six years as a soldier at this base, demonstrated racing techniques as he flogged his American-made Buell Thunderbolt motorcycle around cones. Sholtis said the course is aimed at instilling the skills, control and self-discipline on which racers depend. "This is a way to, hopefully, keep them alive," Sholtis said. "We try to be a countervailing influence." Johnson said troops without families to support typically return from combat with a wad of unspent money in their pockets and an eye on a fast motorcycle — and, for less than $10,000, manufacturers offer sportbikes packed with racing technology easily capable of 150 mph or more. In 2008, 25 Marines died on motorcycles — more than the 22 killed in hostile action in Iraq and 21 who died in Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon. It was a continuation of a trend that has seen a rise from 2004, when seven Marines died on bikes. The Army has seen increased deaths, too, from 22 in 2004 to 51 in 2008. Johnson said nearly 300 military men and women died on motorcycles from 2006 through 2008, and an additional 75 or so had to quit the service because of motorcycle-related injuries. The training may be starting to have an effect. "We haven't seen many accidents among people who have taken" the course, Hill said. Marine spokesman Lt. Josh Diddams said that in the seven months since Oct. 1, eight Marines and six sailors have died on motorcycles. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more