Health security

The military leads all other professions in the number of days spent drinking per year, study claims

Whether it’s shutting down an entire country’s beer supply, going on a beer-only diet for Lent, or reaching a state of intoxication so severe that one breaks into someone’s home, gets naked and takes a shower, the association between service member and alcohol is well established.

It should come as no surprise, then, that data pulled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and analyzed by the Delphi Behavioral Health Group revealed that service members consume alcohol on more days of the year than any other profession.

Close to 27,000 people across 25 different industries responded to surveys on alcohol consumption during the period of 2013 and 2017, with the average person reportedly consuming at least one drink 91 days per year.

Service members, meanwhile, led all other professions, with an average of 130 days of drinking — or, over one-third of the calendar year.

Miners and construction workers were not far behind, drinking 112 days and 106 days per year, respectively.

Despite these elevated numbers, the overall rate of drinking in the U.S. has reportedly decreased over the course of the last two years.