Military Drinking a crisis?

[Paragrouper]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abusing alcohol and drugs has been part of military culture historically: troops do it for fun, to ease the stresses of war or to be part of the brotherhood.

But a new report says substance use and misuse among troops and their families has become a "public health crisis" and that Pentagon methods for dealing with it are out-of-date.

In a study requested by the Defense Department, the Institute of Medicine report Monday said:

— About 20 percent of active-duty service members reported they engaged in heavy drinking in 2008, the latest year for which data was available. (Heavy drinking was defined as five or more drinks a day as a regular practice.)

— Binge-drinking increased from 35 percent in 1998 to 47 percent in 2008. (That's five or more drinks at a sitting for men, four or more for women, but done perhaps just once or twice a month as opposed to each week).

Source

I don't mean to make light of a potential issue, but I really didn't know that 4-5 drinks in a sitting was considered "binge drinking." I thought that was just being sociable.