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Post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems are common in military personnel who return from deployment, and such problems can be associated with substance abuse. To quantify the relation between deployment and alcohol problems, investigators used data collected prospectively from nearly 50,000 U.S. service members. All had been assessed twice (at baseline in 2001–2003, with follow-up in 2004–2006) and had full data for comparison. Of these participants, 55% were active-duty personnel, and 45% were members of the Reserve or National Guard; 11% had been deployed with combat exposure, 12% had been deployed without combat exposure, and 77% had not been deployed.
At baseline, 8% of the participants reported heavy weekly drink…