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Background:

The military has stringent anti-tobacco regulations for new recruits. While most tobacco products have declined in recent years, e-cigarette use has tripled among this population. However, little is known about the factors facilitating this inverse relationship.

Objectives:

Examine the facilitators of e-cigarette use during a high risk period following initial enlistment among young adults.

Methods:

Focus groups were conducted with Airmen, Military Training Leaders (MTLs) and Technical Training Instructors (TTIs) to qualitatively explore unique characteristics of e-cigarettes leading to use in Technical Training.

Results:

The most commonly used tobacco product across participants was cigarettes (42.7%), followed by e-cigarettes (28.0%) and smokeless tobacco (22.6%). Almost a third (28.7%) of participants reported using more than one tobacco product. E-cigarette use was much more common among Airmen (76 …