Years Of Military Service Research Articles

Smoking and Other Correlates of Health Care Services Utilization Among Mandatory Military Recruits in Israel

Data on utilization of ambulatory care and the impact of lifestyle on health among young adults are scarce. Israeli mandatory military service provides a unique opportunity to investigate these topics. Study objective was to analyze the utilization of health care services (HCS) during the first year of military service, and its associations with health behavior at recruitment, in order to plan health services, health classification, and health promotion activities. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among a representative sample of 5,751 mandatory new recruits between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2008. Data were collected from the Israeli Defense Force computerized medical and administrative records and from an ongoing health survey among military recruits. During their first year of service, recruits had, on average, more than 7 visits to the primary care clinic, more than 10 dispensed nonchronic medications, and more than 5 days of sick leave. Female sex (OR = 1.27; 1.06-1.51) and current cigarette smoking (OR = 1.57; 1.34-1.84) were significantly associated with increased use of HCS, after controlling for possible confounders. Our findings indicate high utilization of HCS during the first year of military service and highlight the potential effect of cigarette smoking as a risk factor for increased morbidity among apparently healthy young adults. These findings support adding smoking status to fitness assessments and could aid health promotion efforts to reduce smoking rates among adolescents.

“Of Experience, Zeal, and Selflessness”: Military Officers as Viceroys in Early Eighteenth Century Spanish America

On February 18, 1724, field marshal Antonio Manso Maldonado arrived in New Granada as the president, governor, and captain-general of the New Kingdom. He had been appointed to this position on December 4, 1723, because both the crown and the Chamber of the Indies thought it would be best executed by a military officer. Manso Maldonado could boast more than 30 years of military service, proven loyalty, and administrative experience, much of it during the first reign of Felipe V. After joining the royal armies as a private, Manso Maldonado rose steadily through the ranks, fighting the Moors in Ceuta and the French in the wars of the late seventeenth century. During the War of the Spanish Succession, he served at the orders of the militant bishop of Murcia and last viceroy of Valencia, Luis Belluga, who praised Manso's valor directly to the king. Most important perhaps, at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession and upon the occupation of Catalonia by Bourbon forces, Manso Maldonado had served as teniente de rey in Gerona (1716-1719) and Barcelona (1719-1723), witnessing first-hand the implementation of the Nueva Planta and the enforcement of royal authority over the rebellious principality.

“Of Experience, Zeal, and Selflessness”: Military Officers as Viceroys in Early Eighteenth Century Spanish America

On February 18, 1724, field marshal Antonio Manso Maldonado arrived in New Granada as the president, governor, and captain-general of the New Kingdom. He had been appointed to this position on December 4, 1723, because both the crown and the Chamber of the Indies thought it would be best executed by a military officer. Manso Maldonado could boast more than 30 years of military service, proven loyalty, and administrative experience, much of it during the first reign of Felipe V. After joining the royal armies as a private, Manso Maldonado rose steadily through the ranks, fighting the Moors in Ceuta and the French in the wars of the late seventeenth century. During the War of the Spanish Succession, he served at the orders of the militant bishop of Murcia and last viceroy of Valencia, Luis Belluga, who praised Manso's valor directly to the king. Most important perhaps, at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession and upon the occupation of Catalonia by Bourbon forces, Manso Maldonado had served as teniente de rey in Gerona (1716-1719) and Barcelona (1719-1723), witnessing first-hand the implementation of the Nueva Planta and the enforcement of royal authority over the rebellious principality.

“OF EXPERIENCE, ZEAL, AND SELFLESSNESS”: Military Officers as Viceroys in Early Eighteenth Century Spanish America

On February 18, 1724, field marshal Antonio Manso Maldonado arrived in New Granada as the president, governor, and captain-general of the New Kingdom. He had been appointed to this position on December 4, 1723, because both the crown and die Chamber of the Indies thought it would be best executed by a military officer. Manso Maldonado could boast more than 30 years of military service, proven loyalty, and administrative experience, much of it during the first reign of Felipe V. After joining the royal armies as a private, Manso Maldonado rose steadily through the ranks, fighting the Moors in Ceuta and the French in the wars of die late seventeenth century. During the War of the Spanish Succession, he served at the orders of the militant bishop of Murcia and last viceroy of Valencia, Luis Belluga, who praised Manso's valor directly to the king. Most important perhaps, at the end of die War of the Spanish Succession and upon the occupation of Catalonia by Bourbon forces, Manso Maldonado had served as teniente de rey in Gerona (1716-1719) and Barcelona (1719-1723), witnessing first-hand the implementation of the Nueva Planta and the enforcement of royal authority over the rebellious principality.

Caries Increment Among Army Personnel

To assess the progression of dental caries among Malaysian infantry soldiers after 5 years in military service. A retrospective cohort study with a self-administered questionnaire and a clinical oral examination. Data were available for 173 (67.3%) soldiers. Mean decayed, missing, or filled teeth had increased significantly by 20.6% (P = .001) over 5 years. The highest increase was in the missing teeth component (+120%), followed by filled teeth (+23%). This was accompanied by a decrease in decayed teeth (-23.5%; P < .05). In terms of surfaces, mean decayed, missing, or filled surfaces, missing surfaces, and filled surfaces had increased significantly (P < .05). Caries experience was significantly associated with smoking status and rank (P < .05). Dental caries experience was worse after 5 years in military service compared with during recruitment, and there were more tooth extractions than restorations. Health promotion interventions are needed to prevent further tooth loss among soldiers.

Time to Say Goodbye

As the title of the song by one of my favorite artists, Sarah Brightman, says, it’s “Time to Say Goodbye.” After 42 years of service in clinical pathology/laboratory medicine, including the past 1.5 years as Technical Director of the Core Lab at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, 22 years of military service as an Air Force Biomedical Sciences Corps officer, 15 years as professor of pathology at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and the past 10 years as Associate Editor or Editor-in-Chief of LabMedicine , I bring to a close this chapter of my life and begin the final chapter in retirement. As General Douglas MacArthur stated during his final address to the Congress of the United States at the close of his military service, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” it is my intent to fade away into the peace and enjoyment of retirement. On a recent plane trip from Dallas to San Antonio, I struck up a conversation with a lawyer sitting next to me and during this conversation she asked me, what has been the biggest change that I have observed over my 42-year career. Without hesitation, my response was “technology”! The technological revolution of the past 50 years has created breathtaking innovations and achievements, including the space shuttle, imaging modalities that can pinpoint cancerous lesions, automated laboratory instruments that do everything but make coffee, and last but not least, the internet and e-mail, to name just a few. As I think about the power of the internet and e-mail, I am struck by the fact that there are advantages, …

전역예정 직업군인의 내적·외적요인이 창업의욕에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구: 창업지원프로그램의 매개효과를 중심으로

본 연구는 창업의욕에 영향을 미치는 요인으로 전역예정 직업군인의 내적 외적 특성요인의 효과를 살펴보았다. 창업가의 특성요인과 창업의욕간의 인과관계를 창업지원프로그램의 매개변수를 고려하여 확인하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 10년 이상 장기복무 후 전역을 5개월에서 1년을 앞두고 있는 직업 군인들을 대상으로 설문을 통해 자료를 수집하였으며 총 361명의 자료가 최종 분석에 사용되었다. 연구결과를 요약하면 다음과 같다. 첫째, 내적 특성요인은 창업의욕에 정적인 영향을 주지 못하는 것으로 나타났으나 외적 특성요인은 정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 둘째, 창업지원프로그램이 사회적 인식과 창업의욕 사이에서 매개 변수로서 역할하고 있음을 발견하였다. 연구 결과를 바탕으로 연구의 시사점과 차후 연구 과제를 논의하였다. The purpose of this study is to study internal and external factors affecting entrepreneurial intention of korean professional soldiers who are supposed to retire less than one year. Another main focus of this study is to find out whether there is mediating effect of entrepreneurial support programs for entrepreneurial intentions. In this research, data were collected from 361 officers and non-commission officers who are scheduled to retire from the military within 5 months to one year after at least 10 years of military service. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS using the regression analysis method. In this study, we found that internal factors did not positively affect entrepreneurial intentions, however, external factors positively affected entrepreneurial intentions. It was also found that entrepreneurial support programs played important role as moderating variables between social perceptions toward entrepreneurs and their entrepreneurial intentions. Based on these findings, implications of research implications are discussed, and recommendations for future research were provided.

Philip Sunshine Festschrift: a quintessential neonatologist with wit and humor

I first met Phil in 1971 when he was an associate professor and was giving a lecture on ‘Meconium Aspiration Syndrome’ during an outreach community education effort in Salinas. I was at Fort Ord, as a captain and pediatrician in the US Army and was excited to hear/learn from a professor who was a pioneer in neonatology. I was already committed to this career tract and planned to pursue further training following 2 years in military service. Anyone introducing Phil is likely to remark about how incredible it is to have the name ‘Sunshine’, a moniker that suits him well. The lecture was memorable but I suspect Phil will hardly recall that I was in the audience. His Chief of Pediatrics at this time was my former teacher, the late Irving Schulman, who taught me pediatrics as a medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. My link to Stanford and Phil was formed and it started the connection for future consultations and referrals of our Fort Ord Silas B Hayes Hospital infants who needed intensive care and pediatric subspecialty consultations. I trained with June Brady at the University of California, Cardiovascular Research Institute and Children's Hospital of San Francisco during 1973 to 1975. I remember Phil's interview (1974) and the first challenge of appreciating and assimilating Phil's humor up close. I had spent most of my career in Illinois and did not know how to respond to ‘…why did you not go anywhere else for your training’. My self-conscious reply was that it was home and I was doing well there. Little did I know then, as who does know these details about the interviewer, but in retrospect it was a matter of the ‘pot calling the kettle black’.

My Solidarity Memories from Gdańsk

Like most members of my generation, I grew up with vivid memories of the brutal suppression of workers' protests in Gdansk in December 1970. At that time, the communist authorities ordered the army and the police to open fire on the protesters. About 45 people were killed - most of them secretly buried by the security forces - and about 1200 were injured. It was an entirely avoidable national tragedy and the source of national trauma, leading to the formation of organised opposition and the creation of an underground free trade union movement in Poland. I witnessed this tragedy - the most important formative experience for my generation - while serving in the Polish Navy. During a purge of Polish universities in May 1969, I was conscripted to the navy for two years from the post of medical registrar, while finishing my PhD in the Nephrology Department, Medical School of Gdansk, under a prominent medical scholar, Professor Jakub Penson, who was himself suspended from the position of Vice-Chancellor. Nevertheless, when I was conscripted, Penson found for me through his friends in the army a position in a small navy garrison on the Westerplatte Peninsula in Gdansk and helped me to finish my doctorate while I was serving in the navy. On Westerplatte, I was in charge of a clinic and a small hospital. Some of my patients were university students conscripted for three years' military service as punishment for activity in democratic opposition. I also had under my care soldier-conscripts from Catholic seminaries who were forced to take three years of military service in the Navy Artillery. They were subject to intense 're-education', which was shorthand for brainwashing, involving lectures and parties with local prostitutes, all aimed at 'ideological conversion' of the young clerics. On 15 December 1970, when the clashes between the police and the protesters started in Gdansk, I was on duty at the Nowy Port Garrison, charged with attending the injured policemen. Fighting in the city was very intense, and there were more than 400 injured policemen brought in for emergency treatment. Almost all of them were under the influence of alcohol and drugs given to them by officers before their deployment. While putting them in plaster (to immobilise them temporarily), I could not stop thinking about the carnage they might have inflicted on the protesters. Two days later, army helicopters fired at the workers arriving by trains at Gdynia Shipyard and more people were killed. The navy was not involved in the clashes, and it was a great relief when, after a few more days and a change in communist leadership, there was a political 'thaw'. But there was also a growing concern about the 're-educated' soldiers. When a few warships entered Westerplatte and I had an opportunity to chat with navy crews, I discovered that they were thoroughly brainwashed. Political officers convinced the soldiers that the protests were provoked by German 'revanchists', and that the police and the army defended the 'Polish Gdansk'. Ten years later, I was a university lecturer and director of the Nuclear Medicine Department at the Medical School of Gdansk, busy completing my habilitation (advanced research degree). I had a new boss, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, who was reorganising the Medical School on the Soviet model. In spite of political pressures, we had at the university a small but active group of oppositional critics, mostly young doctors and students, who called themselves 'Young Poland'. They were unofficially allied with underground free trade unions that formed in the late 1970s. When protest started to spread again in spring 1 980, this was a sign of forthcoming upheavals. Indeed, the spring wave of strikes was followed in July- August by a new wave that spread to the Gdansk Shipyard. This time there were no street marches like those that had triggered violence 10 years earlier - only strikes in the factories. …

Howard A. Reber, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine

Howard A. Reber, M.D., Distinguished Professor of Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine

Noise‐induced hearing loss in the U.S. Military: A review.

This presentation will review some of the key findings of an Institute of Medicine committee report [Humes et al. Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus (The National Academies, Washington, DC, 2005.] on noise‐induced hearing loss in U.S. military personnel since World War II. With regard to hearing loss, the majority of the data available at the time of the report were average group hearing thresholds from cross‐sectional studies. Patterns of hearing loss consistent with noise exposure could be seen in several cross‐sectional studies of military personnel. These average data indicated that hearing thresholds were worse in those groups with more years of military service. However, these cross‐sectional data were not a sufficient basis for attributing greater hearing loss solely to a longer exposure to military noise while in the military. With the information available, it was not possible to establish the precise proportion of a given military population that developed noise‐induced hearing loss during military service, the amount of hearing loss incurred, or the relative risk of noise‐induced hearing loss for a given individual, based on his or her branch of military service, occupational specialty, or service era.

Roads, partings and Port wine - destinies of Russian intelligentsia : letter from Moscow : SAMJ forum

I was genetically predisposed to be thin, round-shouldered and short-sighted but, thanks to canoeing with my uncle, two years of military service, and - from 1977 to 1988 - construction and forestry work during holidays, I was in such good form that some girls took me for an athlete. My last construction job was helping to finish a stadium in a city near the Arctic circle, north of St Petersburg. Temporary workers were taken on because of the short construction period, for which the regular staff did not suffice. We worked on average 16 hours a day without holidays. We levelled the surfaces, laid concrete here and there, and put kerbstones into position. The concrete was carried in a barrow by two men, and the 90 kg kerbstones on crowbars. A kerbstone can be carried on one's own, embraced as a beloved woman, but not so captivating. When the work was nearly finished, a new watchman appeared on the scene.

Predictors of Likelihood and Intensity of Past-Year Mental Health Service Use in an Active Canadian Military Sample

Predictors of Likelihood and Intensity of Past-Year Mental Health Service Use in an Active Canadian Military Sample

An evaluation of replacement rates for posterior resin-based composite and amalgam restorations in U.S. Navy and Marine Corps recruits

Restoration replacement is a clinical concern that has not been studied among military personnel. The authors determined the prevalence of placement of posterior amalgam and resin-based composite restorations and the incidence of replacement among U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel. The authors analyzed dental records from 2,780 personnel to determine the relative risk of replacement for initially sound restorations during subjects' first years of military service. At the initial examination, 964 (15.2 percent) of amalgam restorations and 199 (17.4 percent) of resin-based composite restorations required re-treatment. Of those judged clinically acceptable, 14.2 percent of amalgam and 16.7 percent of resin-based composite restorations required replacement during the observation period. The authors found significant increases in replacement rates for resin-based composite restorations compared with amalgam restorations for replacement due to all causes (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.28; P < .05), as well as for replacement due to restoration failure (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.64; P < .01). About 30 percent of posterior restorations required replacement, either at the initial examination or during the subjects' first years of military service. In a young military population, significantly more resin-based composite restorations in place at the initial examination will require replacement than will amalgam restorations. Multi-surface restorations had higher rates of replacement than did one-surface restorations, and subjects at high caries risk experienced significantly higher replacement rates than did those at low caries risk. The number of surfaces restored and subjects' caries risk status may influence the longevity of resin-based composite and amalgam restorations.

Zygmunt Rewkowski – nieznany polski ekonomista i statystyk

Zygmunt Rewkowski received the Vilnius University’s Chair of the Probabilistic Theory – established specially for him – when he was only twenty two. Unfortunately, two years later, in the repressions following the November Uprising, the czar of Russia dissolved the University, and after the following two years the tsarist authorities exiled the young academic for twenty-fi ve years of military service in the Caucasus. After serving the punishment, he worked as a communications engineer for the next quarter of a century. During that period, i.e. at the end of the nineteen sixties, he undertook independent research in the fi eld of Economics. Using the tools of Mathematics he created a general theory of works which aimed at designating a minimum price and the optimum time of work. Z. Rewkowski, as the fi rst of Polish economists, applied differential calculus for this designation. By insisting on the creation of conditions for good work, he became a forerunner of Praxeology to be co-created several decades later by Tadeusz Kotarbinski. In addition to the mathematic and economic works he also published a statistical treatise devoted to the average, and the method of the sum of squares of errors. The average were used to estimate the parameters of the general price equation which form part of his theory of works. In this way he joined the group of forerunners of Econometrics. In the nineties he applied statistical methods to medical research. Despite all this, he remained unknown as a theoretician of Statistics and forgotten as a theoretician of Economics.

Peer and role model influences for cigarette smoking in a young adult military population

Previous research has shown that 8% to 10% of nonsmokers initiated smoking during their first year of military service despite a period of forced abstinence during boot camp. To our knowledge, no studies have looked at the influence of peers and role models on the initiation of smoking among U.S. Air Force personnel who recently completed boot camp. This cross-sectional study examined the role of perceived peer norms, roommate influence, role model influence, perceived norms of all active duty personnel, and depressive symptoms in the initiation and reinitiation of smoking among 2,962 Air Force technical training students. Previous nonsmokers were more likely to initiate smoking if they perceived that the majority of their classmates smoked (OR = 1.67, 95% CI[1.05-2.67]) and if they reported that their military training leader or classroom instructor used tobacco products (OR = 1.69, 95% CI[1.12-2.56]). Additionally, previous nonsmokers were more likely to initiate smoking if their roommate smoked (OR = 1.67, 95% CI[1.09-2.56]). Similar results were seen with previous smokers who perceived that the majority of their classmates smoked (OR = 1.63, 95% CI[1.03-2.58]) and if they reported that their military training leader or classroom instructor used tobacco products (OR = 1.95, 95% CI[1.29-2.94]). Our study suggests that military role models who use tobacco, peer smoking behavior, and perceived smoking norms increase the likelihood of smoking initiation among newly enlisted military personnel who have recently undergone a period of forced abstinence.

Physical Fitness Influences Stress Reactions To Extreme Military Training

Although several risk factors for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been identified, researchers continue to search for novel predictors of this disorder. PURPOSE: In the current study, we prospectively examined whether physical fitness influences the impact of stressful events (a known predictor of PTSD) during military survival training in 31 men. We hypothesized that physical fitness would buffer stress symptoms and that the effect would be mediated via a fitness-associated attenuation in trait anxiety. METHODS: Participants reported their most recent Physical Readiness Test scores and completed a trait anxiety measure prior to survival training. Participants also completed the Impact of Events Scale (IES) 24 hours posttraining. RESULTS: Aerobic fitness was inversely associated with the total IES score (β = .015, p < .01, adjusted R2 = .19), independent of age, body mass index, years of military service, education, and Military Occupational Specialty. When adjusted for trait anxiety, this relationship was substantially attenuated and no longer significant (β = .009, p = .11). Trait anxiety was inversely associated with aerobic fitness (r = −.43, p < .05) and positively related to IES (r = .56, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that physical fitness may buffer stress symptoms secondary to extreme military stress, and its effects may be mediated via fitness-related attenuations in trait anxiety. This study was supported by the Office of Naval Research, Award No. N0001406WX20141.

Acquisition of Chlamydia trachomatis by Young Women During Their First Year of Military Service

To define the acquisition rate of Chlamydia trachomatis among a cohort of young, nonhealth-care seeking, sexually active women with well-defined exposure periods over a 12-month period. The long-term goal is to inform public health practitioners and young women of the risk of reinfection with C. trachomatis and the need for frequent active screening to eliminate asymptomatic infections over time. Young sexually active female Marine Corps recruits (N = 332), serving as "controls" for an intervention to prevent sexually transmitted infections, were screened for C. trachomatis using nucleic acid amplification tests (treated if positive) at entry (T1). They were rescreened and completed self-report behavioral surveys at 4 weeks (T2) and 9 to 12 months (T3) from recruit training. The rate of C. trachomatis acquisition during a contiguous 12-month period. Based on microbiologic laboratory testing alone, the acquisition rate for C. trachomatis was 3.6% (T2) and 9.9% (T3) yielding a total of 13.0%. The self-reported acquisition rate for the period since graduation from recruit training was 8.1% yielding a total acquisition rate of 19.9%. The acquisition rate among this cohort of nonhealth-care seeking young women, who have universal health care access is as high or higher than most clinic-based studies, suggesting the need for increased implementation of active screening in primary, urgent, and nonclinic settings.

Chlamydia in the United States Military: Can We Win This War?

Chlamydia in the United States Military: Can We Win This War?

Contribution of occupational factors to current smoking among active-duty U.S. Navy careerists

Rates of cigarette smoking among active-duty U.S. military personnel remain elevated, ranging from 23% among Air Force personnel to 38% among Army personnel. The purpose of this study was to estimate the contribution of occupational factors to current smoking and heavy smoking among a sample of Navy careerists (those with at least 7 years of military service), and to determine if gender moderates these associations. Participants in the study (n = 2,922) were randomly recruited within over-sampled strata of women and racial/ethnic minorities, and voluntarily completed confidential self-administered questionnaires on drinking, smoking, demographic, and occupational factors during 2001-2002. Approximately 23% of study participants reported current smoking; 9% reported heavy smoking. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to estimate the contribution of occupational factors to current smoking and heavy smoking. The results indicated that careerists in the enlisted ranks were significantly more likely to be current smokers and heavy smokers compared with careerist officers. In addition, those who were deployed at sea were significantly more likely to report current smoking compared with those not currently deployed at sea. Mean daily ounces of alcohol were also significantly associated with likelihood of current and heavy smoking. Gender did not modify the association between occupational factors and smoking. Because aspects of the work environment are potentially modifiable, understanding the role of occupational factors vis-à-vis smoking can aid in smoking prevention and cessation efforts within the military.