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To provide a comprehensive assessment of smoking prevalence and risks for smoking in an entire population of United States Air Force (USAF) military basic trainees (n = 32 144).

Population-based survey with every individual entering the USAF enlisted force from August 1995 to August 1996.

USAF Basic Military Training (BMT) facility at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. All trainees were assessed during the first week of BMT.

A 53-item questionnaire was developed to assess four domains: demographics, smoking history, risk factors for smoking, and other health behaviours.

Approximately 32% of the trainees smoked regularly before basic training and a small percentage of the trainees (7.6%) described themselves as ex-smokers. Men, Euro-Americans, and those from lower educational backgrounds were more likely to smoke than …