Wellness Trends Among Battlefield Airmen

U.S. Air Force Battlefield Airmen (BA) are an elite group of warfighters whose duties require members to remain in peak physical condition to maintain mission readiness. The substantial financial, material, and personnel resources required to train and maintain this elite group may be burdened by attrition and shortened careers due to illness and injury. Wellness, diet, and exercise trends offer insight into performance enhancement and injury prevention. Secondary data analyses were performed on annual health assessment data to summarize wellness trends. Descriptive analyses were conducted on the four main BA career fields (combat controllers, pararescuemen, tactical air control party, special operations weather technicians), BA as a whole, and Security Forces (SF) as a control group. From 2006 to 2012, the dietary profile of BA was consistent with a low-fat healthy intake. There was a steep 5-year increase in the use of nutritional supplements. BA tend to exercise longer and more intensely in both aerobic and strength conditioning per week than their SF counterparts. Approximately 70% have no significant sleep issues. For both groups, alcohol use has decreased in both frequency per month and frequency of consumption per sitting. Overall tobacco use has remained relatively constant, with SF smoking more and BA using chew tobacco more.