Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, center, commander of the U.S. Third Infantry Division, lights a cigar March 15, 2008, at the market in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad.

Forward Operating Base Falcon, Iraq ? Gen. Douglas MacArthur had his signature corncob pipe. Soldiers got cigarettes in their C-rations during World War II. Even today, America’s war on tobacco seems to have largely bypassed the military.

Now a proposal to make the forces smoke-free is drawing strong reactions from troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though the Pentagon itself says any ban is a long way off.

The troops’ fears — and, in some cases, hopes — were triggered by a study commissioned by the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department that recommends moving toward a tobacco-free military, perhaps in about 20 years.

“Your nerves get all rattled and you need something to calm you down,” said Staff Sgt. Jerry Benson of San Bernadino, California, with the 5th Stryker Brigade in southern Afghanistan.

Benson, a tall, thin redhead with a buzz cut, said his first attempt to quit smoking was foiled by stress from a roadside bombing in Iraq.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates seems to agree.

“He knows that the situation they are confronting is stressful enough as it is,” said his press secretary, Geoff Morrell. “I don’t think he is interested in adding to the stress levels by taking away one of the few outlets they may have to relieve stress.”

He said Gates is not planning any ban but is reviewing the study by the Institute of Medicine, which provides independent advice to policymakers, health professionals and the public, to see if steps can be taken toward having a smoke-free force some day.

U.S. military personnel and veterans interviewed by The Associated Press had strong opinions about life in the military without cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco.

Some said it would cut medical costs and make the force healthier, while eliminating smoking breaks would increase productivity. Others said it would dampen morale and reduce recruitment to the all-volunteer military.

Nearly all, however, said it was impractical and probably would never happen.

“It’s an outrage,” said Staff Sgt. Joe Dunn, 32. “I’ve been smoking for about 15 years and being forced to stop — not on my own terms — is something I’d have a hard time dealing with.”

While smoking has declined in the U.S. civilian population, it remains high in the military despite various measures such as designating smoking areas.

In 2005, a third of the active-duty military smoked compared with a fifth of the adult U.S. population, the Institute of Medicine study said. Tobacco use in the military declined overall from 1980 to 2005, but is now reflecting the effects of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Smoking rates among military personnel returning from both war zones may be 50 percent higher than among those not deployed, according to the study, which argues that the military has not tackled the problem as a priority.

Stress relief?

To the troops who say smoking relaxes them, Ellen Hahn, an expert, explains that their stress is also a result of tobacco, because nicotine acts as both a stimulant and a depressant.

“For people who are in stressful situations much like the military, if you haven’t had a cigarette in two hours, you’re going to feel stressed out and irritable, and it’s mostly because of the withdrawal,” said Hahn, a professor who runs the University of Kentucky’s Tobacco Policy Research Program.

“Nicotine is one of those drugs that both stimulates you and calms you down when you need it,” she said.

So smoking does ease stress, but also creates it, she said.

Smokers are easy to find at the Falcon base, perched on railings in the designated smoking areas, using soft-drink cans for ashtrays.

“Smoking has been proven bad for your health, but it’s a choice. It’s not illegal. Drunk driving is illegal,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Alexander Roehm, 23, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who smokes 10 to 20 cigarettes a day and also chews tobacco. “Look at the movies. Smoking is one of the things you always see with Vietnam and World War II films. In World War II, smoking was a big thing. My grandpa used to say that cigarettes were one of the big things that they were real happy to get. It was just something to do.”

Expensive habit

Inside a smoke-free building at the base, however, Maj. Mathew Fitch, engineer for the 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, was cheering the prospect of a smoking ban.

The 40-year-old nonsmoker said cigarettes not only impair a soldier’s health but burn up productivity because every hour or two, somebody goes out and rounds up buddies for a puff.

Tobacco costs the Defense Department more than $1.6 billion a year in medical care and lost work days, while the Veterans Administration has spent more than $5 billion to treat veterans for tobacco-related illnesses. Both have been working for years to reduce smoking among soldiers and vets.