{"id":12561,"date":"2009-07-14T07:50:16","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T12:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=12561"},"modified":"2009-07-14T07:50:16","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T12:50:16","slug":"the-militarys-smoking-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=12561","title":{"rendered":"The military’s smoking ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smoking-soldier\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ve probably all read by now about the Institute of Medicine’s report to the Pentagon that recommends they start phasing out tobacco use in the military. I figured I’d let the smoke clear before I weigh in on it. I’ve been a smoker most of my life – the rate at which I smoke has varied over the years from about a pack a day when I was a platoon sergeant to about six every day now. When I’m at bars, that increases somewhat. When I’m standing in a group of hippies, it increases, too.<\/p>\n

I actually quit for two years when I taught ROTC in Vermont, and then I started again during the Gulf War. I remember when the Army used to give us three cigarettes in a C-ration, and I remember the first time we got C-rations without cigarettes – talk about a miserable field problem.<\/p>\n

During the Gulf War, we were deep inside Iraq for several weeks screening for the Shi’ite refugees from Saddam – a two day Bradley ride from the nearest PX. Everyone ran out of cigarettes and our company XO slipped away for four days to bring us cigarettes. I had my mother and my wife both sent me cigarettes and they were all gone the first day I had them.<\/p>\n

The USAToday<\/a> article I read cited some nimrod in California who obviously has never been in the military recently;<\/p>\n

The military complicates attempts to curb tobacco use by subsidizing tobacco products for troops who buy them at base exchanges and commissaries, says Kenneth Kizer, a committee member and architect of California’s anti-tobacco program.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The PX quit selling cut-rate smokes more than ten years ago. They survey the cost of cigarettes outside the gate these days and sell cigarettes on base for the same price as the local vendors – including sales tax. I remember when the Commissary on Howard AFB in Panama sold a carton for $1.25. Now the Commissary at Walter Reed (the PX is in Maryland) sells them for more than $50\/carton while ten miles away the Commissary at Fort Meyers. VA sells them for about $35\/carton. Kizer should do his homework before he spouts off.<\/p>\n

Do I think folks should smoke? Nope. I’d quit if for a minute I didn’t enjoy it so much. I love a good cigar (something my non-smoking son and I share) and I’ve been known to dip and take a chaw on occasion (there’s an old railroad spittoon on my porch for the occasion).<\/p>\n

In fact, many of us military bloggers stood out on the balcony of the convention the first night puffing on big cigars. Mr. Goody Two Shoes, a certain lobbyist I know intimately who blogs, shoved some dip in his mouth while we were observing a hippie protest a few months back.<\/p>\n

So how will the military enforce a ban? Are they going to give the troops a monthly urinalysis? If they dip or chew, the urinalysis can’t tell tell the difference between nicotine from smoke or chaw.<\/p>\n

Smoking is part of the military culture, which is probably why the Left is going after the practice. They hate the US military and everything that makes it the awesome force in the world that it is, and they get giddy at the prospect of dismantling it, a tiny piece at a time.<\/p>\n

Seein’s how the military is the Left’s social guinea pig, how long before the smoking nazis try to get the entire country to follow suit? Of course, this is more important than fighting terrorists, isn’t it? I’d like to see the Left take an interest in keeping the country safe as much as they worry about ancillary bullshit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’ve probably all read by now about the Institute of Medicine’s report to the Pentagon that … The military’s smoking ban<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-military-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}