policy that forbade tobacco-branded promotions directed at military personnel. In addition, Philip Morris focused on promoting the Marlboro brand with the goal of fostering corporate goodwill by initiating the "Marlboro holiday voice card" program. Held on 10 military bases, they invited family of deployed personnel to record a message for onto a chip inserted into a greeting card, and later allowed bases to extend the recording of such messages to the public. Despite being in violation of Department of Defense policy concerning tobacco-branded programs directed at military personnel, Philip Morris had received permission to carry out the program from the Defense Logistics Agency, the Morale, Welfare and Recreation headquarters of the services, and base commanders. Furthermore, after troops were withdrawn from the conflict in 1991, tobacco companies sponsored "Welcome Home" events for returning troops featuring extensive brand promotion. Although the Department of Defense had enacted policies to reduce tobacco use amongst personnel, the successful efforts of tobacco companies as well as the cultural factors of smoking in the military have produced a mixed message of tobacco promotion and reduction to military personnel. Present-day smoking in the US military In 2005, the smoking rate of military personnel was found to be 32.2%, compared to the civilian rate of 21%. The higher smoking rate suggests that certain aspects of military may foster smoking. These factors include the demographic most likely to volunteer for service (ie those who enter the service are more likely to already be smokers), peer influence, combat stress, boredom, and easy access to cheap tobacco products. Another factor that may lead to increased tobacco use is deployment. One study found that among nonsmokers, smoking initiation was observed in 1.3% of nondeployed personnel while 2.3% were observed in deployed personnel. Among past smokers, resumption of smoking occurred in 28.7% of non deployed personnel and 39.4% of deployed personnel, while smoking increased 44% among the former and 57% among the latter. US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have been reported to smoke at twice the rate of other Americans. Even after leaving the service, many veterans continue to smoke as the prevalence of smoking among veterans has been reported to be 27% during 2003 to 2007, and military smoking is strongly associated with increased lifelong cigarette consumption. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health's 2010-2015 analysis, around 30% of the active duty service members use tobacco. Such high