There are some distinct professional advantages to practicing epidemiology in the military. Army rules and regulations set clear guidelines for reporting of notifiable diseases, and medical staff compliance is generally very good. Thus, the data with which the epidemiologist works are often more complete than that commonly found in civilian settings. Soldiers are easily located and policy decisions fully implemented. Military populations are clearly defined and counted, and denominators (battalion population, brigade population, division population, etc.) are usually readily available for accurate computation of event rates. Finally, most goods and services necessary for public health management (epidemiologists, health educators, veterinarians, nurses, statisticians, vehicles, laboratories, printing presses, office supplies, etc.) are available in-house at reduced cost.