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Originally posted by projectvxn
I support it. It's the military, I don't want my military coughing and hacking their way into battle. There's already enough crap killing good soldiers.
Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by drock905
You don't "Give up your rights" your swear to a Uniform Code and the Constitution, any Legal mandates by the military to it's soldiers must be complied with otherwise you're in dereliction of duty. I'm sure you know this, but I take exception to the notion that one loses his/her rights.
Originally posted by projectvxn
reply to post by jd140
Actually it is very personal to me as I have a brother fighting overseas. I've learned quite a bit about the military. I also know a thing or two about the effects of smoking.
MADISON - About 50 percent of soldiers deployed to Iraq return addicted to tobacco.
Of that group, about half will die prematurely from smoking-related disease if they are unable to break free of tobacco addiction.
On average, the use of tobacco will deprive those soldiers of 10 to 14 years of life and for many, poor health will compromise the quality of those years.
"Soldiers are going to war zones in Iraq," says Dr. Michael Fiore, head of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, "and, God willing, they survive the imminent risks of that deployment. But they often return addicted to tobacco – a powerful addiction that puts them at risk of collateral damage for the rest of their lives."
A veteran of the United States Army Reserves himself, Fiore says that soldiers and smokes were chummy for years.
In the past, troops received cigarettes with meal rations and cheap tobacco was sold on bases. Military culture saw tobacco use as a soldier's right – something to "take the edge" off the rigors of duty.
But by the mid-'70s, the military recognized that tobacco use was taking the edge off something else: military readiness. Recruits who used tobacco didn't perform as well on tests of athletic fitness; they got hurt more often, and more recruits were failing basic training.
"Tobacco use is a lead contributor to acute infections – bronchitis and pneumonia, among others," says Fiore. "Smokers get out of breath faster. Their allergies get worse. All of these can take the edge off a soldier who needs to be at his or her best."
Over time, the military quit offering cigarettes with rations; banned indoor tobacco use on bases; required that recruits abstain from tobacco during basic training; and started offering smoking-cessation programs to soldiers.
The policy changes, plus the general social trend against smoking, did help decrease smoking. A 2007 study in Addiction found that smoking rates in the military dropped from more than 50 percent in 1980, then increased markedly starting in the late ‘90s. By 2005, about 33 percent of those in the military smoked.
Today, with U.S. soldiers fighting two wars in the Middle East, deployments are up and multiple deployments are common. While fully recognizing the dangers of fighting a stubborn insurgency, Fiore has a longer-term worry.
"What used to be an equal-opportunity killer is increasingly a concern in subgroups of the population," he says. "Young soldiers are especially vulnerable to the risks of tobacco. While smoking prevalence overall among adults has fallen to less than 20 percent, it is far higher in military personnel."
Actually yes I did, it's not as if the information is classified.
He could run 2 miles (the required distance in the APFT, but you knew that)
Reliable data on the impact of physical training on light infantry units in terms of injuries and time loss are sparse. This study evaluated a light infantry unit (n = 181) prospectively and followed it throughout one year of infantry training and operations. Fifty-five percent of the soldiers (n = 101) experienced one or more injuries. Eighty-eight percent of the injuries were training-related conditions, which resulted in 1,103 days of limited duty. Lower extremity overuse injuries were the most common type of injury documented. Fractures accounted for the greatest number of days of limited duty. Risk factors for training-related injuries identified by this study were cigarette smoking, high percentage of body fat, extremely high or low body mass index, low endurance levels, and low muscular endurance levels (sit-ups). Logistic regression showed that cigarette smoking and low endurance levels were independent risk factors for training injuries. These data indicate that the incidence of training-related injuries in infantry units is high. A number of modifiable injury risk factors were identified, suggesting that many of these injuries may be preventable.