You wanna try telling these guys they can’t have a smoke? (UPDATED)

...Neither do we.

Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking.

Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.

Higher health care costs? Hmmmm…. The irony of the ultimate cost we ask our men and women in the armed forces to potentially bear was not lost on us.

Secretary Gates, let’m have their smokes.

We’d like to hear the opinions of those who have served or are currently serving.

And participate in a Hot Air poll on this subject, here.

(UPDATE #1):Commenter Ohioan@heart linked to Commander Salamander’s take on the subject and we decided to liberate it to the front page.

Madness. Where do we draw the line? No unprotected sex by order? I have lost more Sailor time due to STD's (including HIV) and pregnancy than smoking. Smokers work about the same as those who have to work out 90 minutes a day. STD's and pregnancy are both 100% avoidable and both result in lost work time and huge health costs. Like DUI, make STD's, pregnancy, and smoking all UCMJ violations. Heck, alcohol too while we are at it. We all know the costs of that. Hey, even more.

Read the whole thing here. Thanks, O@H