Contact lenses in the military service

This paper discusses contact lenses in a military environment and reports the results of a literature survey, an extensive questionnaire sent to 1400 spectacle and contact lens wearers, and a short questionnaire given to soldiers taking part in a large scale and long military maneuver. Only a small number of publications were found concerning the relation between adverse environmental conditions and contact lens wearing. In Vietnam dust and poor hygiene often led to eye irritations that precluded the wearing of contact lenses by soldiers. Nevertheless, persons in the army are often in favor of contact lenses. In the air force and navy, wearing contact lenses seems compatible with nearly all military duties. A questionnaire was sent to all known contact lens wearers in the Dutch army and air force and to about an equal number of spectacle wearers. The responses indicate that the proportion of contact lens wearers is 1.8%. The distribution of hard vs. soft lenses was 60 and 40%, respectively. Military personnel wore their lenses during nearly all daily activities. Most contact lens wearers were of the opinion that in military conditions contact lenses have advantages over spectacles. To obtain more information on field exercises, a second questionnaire was handed out immediately after a large-scale NATO field maneuver. Twenty percent of the contact lens wearers had decided in advance not to wear their lenses, but another 30% ceased wearing their lenses during the exercise. It was recommended that for nearly all functions and/or conditions, wearing of contact lenses should be allowed, but that during extended field exercises wearing of hard contact lenses should be discouraged.