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.

This study provides evidence of the negative consequences of sexual trauma to US military women, including decrements in functionality in the workplace and potentially on military readiness. Given the increasing roles and responsibilities of women with the military, prevention and mitigation against sexual trauma should remain a high priority. These data support the urgent need for effective strategies to prevent sexual trauma and provide important information for developing programs to assist women who have experience sexual trauma.

Service members who were currently deployed or had returned from a deployment had significantly shorter adjusted sleep duration and increased adjusted odds of reporting trouble sleeping compared to those who had not deployed.

Getting a good night's sleep is much more difficult for military personnel who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new study of sleep patterns in the military. The scientific research confirms what plenty of soldiers, Marines and other members of the U.S. military have already experienced firsthand.

A study in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal SLEEP found that deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan significantly influenced sleep quality and quantity in a population of 41,225 military service personnel. The study suggests that the promotion of healthier sleep patterns may be beneficial for military service members.

The Department of Defense's largest longitudinal study in military history received an endorsement from the Army's surgeon general Sept. 19, emphasizing the importance of the Navy-led study across the military services.

Study findings indicate that there is insufficient data to conclude that dust and pollution in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly from the burn pits used by the military to incinerate garbage, could cause long-term health problems in troops.

DoD medical researchers have found that service members who suffered multiple combat exposures during a deployment, and especially those who had witnessed death as a result of war, were much more likely to report hypertension (chronic high blood pressure) compared to those who had not seen combat.

Despite being held to stringent weight and body fat standards, newly published research shows that one in five individuals from a sample of U.S. military personnel from 2001 - 2008 have obesity. Further, shortly after separating from active duty, U.S. military veterans are as likely to have obesity as civilians. Data from the research also showed an association between military personnel who have obesity - including both active duty and veterans - and mental health conditions like depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The research led by Toni Rush, MPH, is published in the July issue of Obesity, the scientific journal of The Obesity Society.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13, 2008 - Defense Department officials are assessing ways to better prepare servicemembers, particularly members of the reserve and National Guard, for the stresses of combat so they're better able to avoid alcohol-related problems when they return home, defense officials said today ...