Smoking and vaping is to be banned at the UK's only Army training centre for teenage recruits. Hundreds of junior soldiers pass through the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate each year. Its commanding officer Lt Col Richard Hall said it was "unacceptable" that "most recruits don't smoke on arrival, yet most do by graduation". New recruits will be barred from smoking next week, with a complete ban on smoking and vaping on site by 2020.
In a statement, Lt Col Hall said the ban was in order to develop recruits' health and fitness. He added: "I hope that this will discourage smoking amongst new recruits and reverse the recent trend we've seen in recruits taking up the habit."
Brilliant! I'm really happy about this. I'm old enough to know that many people didn't smoke until they were called up, did National Service or later still joined the army by choice.
Kids I went to school with, non smokers like myself, were the odd balls. Two of them joined the army and started to smoke. They were encouraged by their training officers, told it would make men of them, stop them from being 'Poofs'.
I think that peer pressure was probably the reason that most smokers started.
The "old style" military also knew that nicotine was a stimulant and encouraged, to give their service men an "edge". Hence they were actually given cigarettes as part of their rations.
Mixed feelings about this one. Even thirty five years ago smoking was banned in some headquarters out in the field in peacetime. From memory the split between smokers and non smokers was about fifty fifty. However on operations the percentage of smokers went up greatly as a way of dealing with stress. I vividly remember great clouds of smoke going up just before a foot patrol in a not so friendly place. There is no doubt that smoking is bad for you but when there is the likelihood of something far more lethal in the short term coming at you you do what you can.
Yes i suppose the last thing you worry about after stepping on an I.E.D is to have to worry about if that fag i was offered along with the tourniquet will give me lung cancer or when you stabbed that nasty needle of atropine into your thigh after a nerve gas attack is it safe to vape through my gas mask.
Such good news for a change! Difficult decisions have to be made but we know how smoking can cause cancer and other problems. Well done to the college for making this decision.
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BBC Scotland 6-9-2012 Kay Addams. Did anyone listen to the Smoking Debate.
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