Proposed smoking ban angers some in military

There are a limited number of places and times that you can smoke to begin with. That's the way it was when I was in. Those places and times are what gets you through the periods in between. If the brass hats at the Pentagon haven't noticed someone might point out to them that they are having trouble filling billets to start with. Most of them werte never long on thought after field grade anyway. I guess some things never change.

soldiers should only be allowed to do meth. the nazi's understood this. that is how they took over poland in two weeks.

Sometimes things get carried too far. This is one. Leave the troops alone. They're doing the job, and doing it well. Don't fix something that isn't broken. duhhhhhh

I was in the navy until 06. It wasn't, and I am assuming it still isn't, uncommon for a boat to go cold turkey. You would be surprised what isn't kosher to a command and what is. I remember not being able to get Maxim mags as it would offend locals....never mind that we were at least 50 nautical miles for the nearest local. Keep in mind that oral sex between a married couple is still sodomy and punishable under the UCMJ. And cohabitation prior to marriage is also adultery. US military is the only place I know that still enforces 1800 sensibilities....

this is our fault because we accepted a lie and repeated the lie because it was a good lie. the lie, we thought, would stop kids from smoking but it didn't. because everyone told the lie (for the kids) the politicians supported it, to buy votes. the lie was second hand smoke, we quoted stats. that made second hand smoke more dangerious than smoking. i allways used to say " i'm glad there's a filter on this thing to protect me from second hand smoke". if you really care about the facts and numbers; penn and teller did an episode on "bullshit" about this.
i'm part indian and get my tobacco from the rez. and don't pay tax, you can buy yours there too tax free, on line.
everybody knows what prohibition will mean. beside dead cops and pushers it will inspire more rebellious kids to smoke. there's a great business oppertunity in growing tobacco and getting kids to hustle it.
if you don't want your kids to smoke don;t let them watch; jimmy dean or bogart.

Just another step toward making cigarettes illegal. It's coming people.

Hazard duty is hazardous duty, the business at hand isn't health care.

im in the air force active duty and this policy can possibly fly. for every 10 troops at least 6 smoke. it is to entrenched in our military way of life. just look at every film, picture, documentary from the world wars to now. what do you see? men and women smoking and fighting. i think there are alot bigger issues that we need to worry about not smoking. im about to head to afghanistan and i dont have all of the gear i need. how bout we fix that!!!

BAN IT ALL! YOU HAVE NO SAY. YOUR ONLY MISSION IS TO FOLLOW ORDERS. YOU GAVE UP YOUR RIGHTS, REMEMBER? NOW, DON'T GO PRIVATE PYLE ON ME.

Smoking, or more accurately nicotine, makes one sluggish and causes your muscles to slightly spasm (makes you shake), makes you dehydrate faster, and leads to higher stress levels. Nicotine raises blood pressure which is the bodies natural response to stressors and hence nicotine intake simulates undue stress which effects decision making.

Unfortunately it is not just health issues as you can see. If someone shakes because they smoke they are less accurate with a rifle. You will not find many if any snipers who smoke because it is literally impossible for them to be able to aim well enough to qualify.

so inaccurate, sluggish water gluts that have poorer judgment than they were born with... or pissed off soldiers that already have a physical addiction... not an easy choice.

I think that banning cigarettes is a bad idea in general, though regulating nicotine enhancement is definitely a must, but in this case I can see where the military commanders are coming from, and I assure you they understand the issues they will be faced with if they do indeed feel it is necessary to ban smoking.

Old enough to die for the country, but not old enough to drink.

Smart enough to carry weapons and decide who to kill, but not smart enough to decide how to kill themselves.

BTW, it is a proven fact that nicotene improves memory and concentration. I can hear it now, "Where's the rendesvous point again?"

I know myself and alot of my fellow Marines smoke. But we're all stil in excellent shape and have no smoke related illnesses, even the ones who have been smoking for years before joining. Smoking is how alot of us cope, and honestly, if we weren't allowed to smoke, alot of Marines I know would simply drink alot more, myself included. It's how we cope. It's how we get to know people. Banning us from smoking would be a big mistake, IMO.

I wasn't a smoker before going to Iraq, and I don't smoke now. While I was there it was one of the only things that seemed to take any of my edge off at all. Your rights are already severely limited in the military this is just another way they try to dehumanize you into mindless robots.

If anybody out there is in the military and wants to speak out on this - let me know. We'd really love to have a soldier's perspective on this.

let the soldiers have their cancer sticks . . you have to cope with bullshit wars somehow

lets repeal "dont ask dont tell" instead

Concerned over the wrong health issues. If I was in a combat zone I'd be a smoker again for sure.