For more than 20 years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has collected information regarding behavioral and health readiness of active duty military personnel through the Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among Military Personnel. In 2005, DoD initiated the Department of Defense Lifestyle Assessment Program (DLAP), which incorporates the active duty health behaviors study and expands the scope to include the National Guard and Reserves, as well as other special studies, the first of which is this study. Findings from the program will provide information on the fitness of the force, including estimates of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use; nutrition and physical activity; and critical assessments of emotional stress and other issues. Data will be used to assess and document potential health and lifestyle issues pertaining to personnel, to track health-related trends, and to identify highrisk groups and areas needing additional screening or intervention. Results will help leaders better understand the nature, causes, and consequences of substance abuse and health practices in the military and to evaluate and guide programs and policy.

Demographic factors such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, and pay grade and other individual level factors such as attitudes toward alcohol and tobacco use, and perceived ability to control decisions related to alcohol and tobacco use have been linked to heavy drinking and smoking in military populations. Individuals may also be influenced by unit-level factors, including peer use, perceived norms about alcohol and tobacco use, and peer pressure. Environmental or installationlevel factors such as military policy on alcohol and tobacco use, availability of alcohol and tobacco, and social/environmental stressors may also affect alcohol and tobacco use behaviors.

Our study will identify the following factors influencing alcohol and tobacco misuse:

1. individual-level factors
2. unit-level factors
3. installation-level factors and
4. strategies that the military may use to decrease alcohol and tobacco misuse.