Service members and military veterans use tobacco more than civilians do, and cigarette smoking is more common still among those who have been deployed overseas. Smoking raises the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, chronic bronchitis and many other diseases.
The numbers
- Many service members start using tobacco only after they join.
- In 2010–2015, more than 1 in 5 U.S. veterans (21.6%) reported smoking cigarettes. In 2018, 14.6% of veterans enrolled for VA care did.
- In 2014 the Defense Department spent nearly $1.8 billion on medical and other costs tied to tobacco use. In 2010 the Veterans Health Administration spent an estimated $2.7 billion on smoking-related outpatient care, prescriptions, hospital stays and home health care.
Help for anyone
- A Quit Guide to plan the attempt.
- Free quitlines: 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) in English; 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569) in Spanish; 1-855-QUIT-VET (1-855-784-8838) for veterans with VA health coverage.
- By text: QUITNOW to 333888; for smokeless tobacco, SPIT to 333888.
Active duty and retired service members
Active duty and retired members and their families can get help through TRICARE and Defense Department programmes; members of the Reserve and National Guard can use the resources below.
- The Defense Department's YouCanQuit2 campaign, with an interactive quit plan, a support locator and a printable resource guide.
- TRICARE's tobacco cessation services, which may include counselling and medicines.
- The Tobacco-Free Living pages of the Total Force Fitness site, on quitting every form of tobacco.
By branch
| Branch | Where to start |
|---|---|
| Air Force | the local Military Treatment Facility or Health Promotion team (tobacco cessation resources) |
| Army | the Army Public Health Center's Tobacco-Free Living & Vaping |
| Navy | the Tobacco-Free Living programme of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center; the local health promotion office, or a medical or dental provider at the treatment facility; the Starter Kit to Quit Tobacco |
| Marine Corps | Operation Tobacco-Free Marine; the battalion aid station or local medical staff |
| Coast Guard | the Office of Work-Life Programs' Tobacco Cessation Program |
Veterans in VA health care
Every VA medical centre offers counselling to quit, and every VA pharmacy programme offers FDA-approved medicines for it. The facility locator finds the nearest one.
- The VA's Tobacco and Health pages: quitting, medicines and counselling.
- SmokefreeVET: tools and support, including how nicotine replacement therapy improves the odds; text support by texting VET to 47848, or VETesp for Spanish.
- The VA national quitline, 1-855-QUIT-VET, or the veteran's own primary care team.
Federal employees in the FEHB programme
The FEHB tobacco cessation benefit is open to federal employees whose condition of employment includes military unit membership and who chose FEHB coverage; activated employees keeping FEHB during military service; Defense Department civilians with FEHB; veterans, who are about 30% of the federal workforce; and family members covered by an enrollee.
It covers every form of tobacco, e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco included, and, since counselling and medicine together give the best chance of success:
- at least two quit attempts a year, each with at least four counselling sessions (individual, group or proactive telephone counselling);
- every FDA-approved quitting medicine, over-the-counter ones included, with a prescription or through a plan-approved programme, combination nicotine replacement therapy among them;
- all with no copay, coinsurance or deductible, and no annual or lifetime dollar limit.
A health plan or its brochure says how to use it.
Their stories
CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign includes veterans and service members: Beatrice R., a Navy veteran who quit in 2010 for her family; Brian H., who had a heart attack at 35 and died at 68 after more than 30 years of smoking-related illness; Ethan B., two strokes; James F., who quit in 2010 and now bikes 10 miles a day; Mark A., who kept smoking through Persian Gulf service and developed rectal cancer at 42; Michael P., diagnosed with COPD at 44; Nathan M., whose asthma was triggered by secondhand smoke at work; Roosevelt S., a heart attack at 45; and Tammy W., a marathon runner who needed open-heart surgery at 44.
Sources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Military Service Members and Veterans," Tips From Former Smokers®. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/groups/military.html
- CDC, "Tobacco product use among military veterans — United States, 2010–2015," MMWR 2018;67:7–12; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2018 Survey of Veteran Enrollees' Health and Use of Health Care; Barnett PG et al., Nicotine Tob Res 2015;17(5):586–591.
- The original's stock photographs, advertising graphics and participant portraits are not reproduced here.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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