Deployed women who underwent "combat-like" experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are much more likely to report sexual harassment and sexual assault compared with other deployed women, according to a new study.

The record number of military suicides seen in recent years may not be directly due to extended deployments or combat experience, according to a new study. This data analysis, funded by the Department of Defense, suggests that the real reason behind the growing number of military suicides is underlying mental health issues in this population.

Lower extremity tendinopathies and plantar fasciitis were common injuries among military personnel, with plantar fasciitis incidents significantly associated with deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to recent study results

Troubled sleep, short sleep, and sleep apnea predicted the onset of type 2 diabetes, independent of mental-health disorders, in a prospective study of young, healthy military personnel.

Military healthcare professionals have similar rates of new-onset PTSD or depression compared to those in other military occupations. Similar to other types of military personnel, combat exposure was the key factor that increased the rates of new-onset PTSD/depression in this sample, as deployed healthcare professionals with combat exposure had twice the odds of new-onset PTSD/depression compared to those deployed without combat exposure.

Pre-Existing Insomnia Linked to PTSD and Other Mental Disorders After Military Deployment Science Daily - 28 June 2013 The new study, published in the July 2013 issue of the journal SLEEP, found that pre-existing insomnia symptoms conferred almost as a large of a risk for those mental disorders as combat exposure.

DoD and VA should sponsor longitudinal studies to answer questions regarding long-term effect of TBI, PTSD and other mental health disorders, a recent IoM report recommended. The report suggested that current studies like the Millennium Cohort Study and the Longitudinal Health Study of the Gulf War Era Veterans may provide a platform for long-term followup.

"Women who deploy and report combat-associated exposures after childbirth are significantly more likely to screen positive for maternal depression than are women who did not deploy after childbirth," concluded the study, titled "Is Military Deployment a Risk Factor for Maternal Depression?" and appearing in the Journal of Women's Health.

Scientists found that military women who had served between 2001 and 2004, and who had been in direct combat, were 2 1/2 times more likely to say they had been sexually assaulted during those years than female servicemembers who had never been to war.

According to the Millennium Cohort Study soldiers who are deployed and exposed to combat, "are at increased risk of new-onset heavy weekly drinking, binge drinking, and other alcohol-related problems."