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FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Soldiers at Fort Drum follow general safety rules every day, but Thursday was officially Safety Day as troops learned how to be safe both on and off duty.

The annual event packed the Magrath Gym as soldiers learned what can be recycled, how to deal with bedbugs and what snakes are commonly found around the post, among other things.

The Brigade Combat Team’s Safety Officers and the Garrison Safety Officer organized this event because statistics show four times as many soldiers are killed off duty as they are on duty.

“It’s really a critical time to make sure the message of safety and looking out for each other and being engaged and understanding the risks that are out there, whether they’re on duty doing what our Army asks them to do every day or certainly out on the road, out on the water, having fun with themselves and their family, they need to get the message of understanding of the risks that are out there and looking out for themselves and each other,” Brigadier General William Wolf said.

Soldiers paid most attention to the display about Lyme disease and the kinds of ticks that might carry the illness because they spend a lot of time in the field for training.

Safety Day at Fort Drum is one of the largest in the country.