It’s bad enough when troops die senselessly overseas, but a real tragedy when the Reaper harvests them at home, after surviving a year in the sandbox. The Army has started to do something about it.

Any time Army Spc. Bruce Bentley leaves Fort Meade to see his wife and children in Lancaster, Pa., he sits at his computer and types in dozens of facts about his trip, including where he's going, what he's driving, how many times he's stopping, and when he's leaving and returning.

The computer program, called TRIPS, then assigns Bentley's journey a risk level, displays stories of soldiers who died on similar ones and recommends ways to reduce the danger.

Soldiers such as Bentley have logged on to the internal Army Web site more than 2 million times as part of a far-reaching campaign to curb the number of service members dying in road crashes. The risks are greatest for soldiers returning from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, where lawless driving tactics are necessary. Similar techniques can be lethal on American roads.

"Part of the problem is that they come back and buy fast cars and fast motorcycles," said Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Fort Stewart [GA], which spent $300,000 opening a nightclub on the Georgia post in November after seven soldiers there died in alcohol- related crashes in one year.

Everybody buys fast cars and bikes when they get home. This may be caused as much by youth, testosterone and accumulated tax-free salaries as by a desire to continue risk-taking on US roads.

In a quote that actually seems sensible, a psychiatrist interviewed for the article, Dr Jonathan Shay, says that survival driving skills learned in Iraq (drive fast, drive in the center of the road) are acquired habits and the automatic behavior is hard to change when the soldiers come home. “It’s a setup for death.”

Last month, Fort Stewart began ordering soldiers returning from combat not to drive for one week as part of a new Army program that helps them readjust to society.

"For six to seven days, they're being bused everywhere they need to go on post," Larson said. "During that time, we're going to make sure that they know how to drive safely and give them time to get their insurance in order."

Early indications show that driver safety courses and TRIPS, which became mandatory for all Army personnel in July 2005 and for all U.S. armed forces in April, have slightly subdued some soldiers' post-combat feelings of invincibility.

Besides trying to decompress the troops for a week (which may not be enough time) emphasizing safe driving tips, and keeping them drinking on post some post commanders have come up with yet another incentive.

Soldiers at Fort Stewart and Fort Campbell, Ky., get a day off every time the base goes 100 days without someone dying in a car crash. A sign at Fort Campbell flashes different colors based on how long it's been since a death.

"I can tell you exactly that we've gone 201 days without a soldier or civilian employee dying in a crash, and the whole base could tell you that because the day count is posted on new electronic message boards at every gate to the fort," Larson said in a recent interview.

That sounds like a good incentive too, but the effect of all these programs is spoiled by the news in the next paragraph:

Since the interview, however, two Fort Stewart soldiers have died after speeding back from a weekend at Tybee Island, Ga., and crashing into a utility pole.