Sizable numbers of dedicated U.S. military personnel experience physical health problems, mental health problems, and substance abuse problems during their military service. Although these problems are known, there are many gaps in understanding the overlap and intersections of these complex issues and their effects on the military. This book is the first effort to provide a broad-based integrative look at the nature and extent of substance abuse, physical health status and health behaviors, and mental health problems in the active military and their impact on the productivity and readiness of the active duty armed forces. This chapter provides background and context about the military, describes key factors that reduce military productivity and readiness, and introduces our conceptual framework that guides the analyses presented in this book. Findings are based on the analyses of 10 comprehensive Department of Defense Surveys of Health Related Behaviors Among Active Duty Military Personnel conducted from 1980 to 2008.
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