Abstract
The deployment of the U.S. Battalion to the Sinai as part of the first wave multinational force and observers was a physical and psychosocial stress on the involved soldiers from the 82d Airborne Division. This paper examines the medical care utilization associated with the six-month move to the Sinai and the base-camp and outpost duty rotations. The frequency and the reasons given for requesting medical service, as well as their timing in relation to the military mission, provide a detailed example of the use of health care as a stress coping mechanism. The potential for monitoring health care utilization as an indicator of the stressful aspects of policy decisions is also discussed.