According the just released 2005 survey of military health behaviors, young servicemembers in particular are prone to heavy drinking but overall smoking and use of illegal drugs is down. And, more military members are overweight. However, top Pentagon health official, William Winkenwerder, says that, war stress aside, servicemembers have “quite good” health compared to US civilians.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
