U.S. friendly fire casualties before Desert Storm were less than 2%. Although I expect that was because prior to then they were not reported outside the Defense Department and no external auditing was accomplished. Historically friendly fire accounts for 10-15% of wartime casualties in the U.S. but during Desert Storm the percentage went up to 24% and even 15% of the wounded were from friendly fire.

>>>Where were you on patrol? This would have to be differnt in a war zone (sorryy I mean victory zone) like Iraq?
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>>Germany, 1985-1986. My unit was responsible for patrolling a portion of the East-West German border, but it was not just when we were on patrol, it was also true of guard duty. Two of our soldiers were court-martialed for bringing their own ammo.
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>In any given group of soldiers (or troops, as I understood that they are called when abroad - have you been a troop then?) there's a chance of a few trigger-happy ones being present. Having a soldier (or even a troop) killed while not under enemy fire, or having a civilian killed during their watch, is the worst nightmare for any officer (and at least two more above him). The actual number of soldiers (et al) killed by friendly fire is probably never published, but I've found somewhere that the estimate for Yugoslav wars was about 40% or more.
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>So, at least, don't give them any ammo. When I was a conscript ('81-2) I witnessed a case when one guy (an Albanian, for that matter) fired a shot in the air, in the middle of the barracks yard, on a Sunday afternoon. It took the officer in charge about ten seconds to appear on the spot, with a very strange look on his face (fears of real trouble, losing promotion, long report to write...). I really wanted to report the moron, but we agreed it would be more trouble than it was worth, and the lieutenant was happy with our explanation - there was a fire burning on the trahspile, and a nearly-empty lighter gas bottle exploded. Which did happen... two days earlier :).