Just suggesting it is not the statistic given.....but the method the data was built within.
The example I gave is an example.
Sortie count for pax carried would be 66....Mission count 22.
I did not accuse the Marines of cooking the books....but note the numbers given are not worth a darn until one knows the method used to do the accounting.
The FBI's infamous National Crime Report is yet another example of garbage statistics....once you understand the methodology used to frame their stats.
A good local Police Chief can use those very methods to make his department look good (if he is wanting to keep his job) or justify more Officers and resources (if he wants to build up the force) just by applying varying rules of defining crimes.
The classic example (drawn from real life first hand) regarded reporting of Break-In's. Under one Chief we reported pretty much what actually happened, under another the Thief could get inside the house but not steal anything of value and it was only a Damage To Property....and with a third if the window pane was broken and no entry was made.....it was a Burglary. In other words the same crime could be a Misdeameanor or a Felony but only the Felony Crime made it to the NCR Database.
They also report only the most serious crime committed in one event....Drug deal goes bad, Buyer shoots dead the Dealer, rapes the dealer's daughter, robs the Buyer's wife, sets fire to the house and steals a car and kidnaps the driver, runs over a Police Officer, and holds a school bus full of children hostage....then surrenders......One Crime...Murder gets reported for stats use.