[jondeng]

Does this story show any causation or is it just correlation? From my experience in the Army and deployed it was the units closest to the FLOT who would have the most energy drink usage- if you don't have other creature comforts (sleep, hot chow, safety) you tend to resort to things that you can access, like cheap energy drinks. These units would also see the most combat and have the highest prevalence of PTSD.

[ebullientocelot]

This rings true from my experience in Afghanistan too. We did route clearance in RC North, and were often out for days at a time. Very little bad sleep, end up scraping together whatever cigarettes were available so few people had their preferred brand, the same tired MREs, plastic tasting water which was used for brushing teeth as well as drinking, etc. We did, however, get cases of Rip It and huge boxes of Cliff Bars from the chow hall, sometimes two or more to a truck (3-6 guys). Eventually, all you want is a "flavor" of some kind, and it starts to matter less and less where it comes from. We were all aware that it was better for us to drink the shitty water, but the desire for some kind of gratification eventually overwhelms even the most conscientious efforts to be healthy or maintain balance.

[lovetocode]

I would agree but I think we can agree that all those who spent their entire deployments on BIAP or Bagram are getting their fair share as well. From my deployment experience, I drank Rip-Its more frequently when we were in the full swing of operations out forward from the relative safety of larger bases. I definitely drank more Rip-Its in Afghanistan on a very small FOB.