The paper estimates the causal effect of serving in the Russian Army on health. We explore a kink in the year-of-birth profile of the probability of compulsory service that happened as a result of the demilitarization process initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev. We find that serving in the Russian Army significantly increases rates of alcohol consumption and smoking ; it also results in a higher chance of getting hepatitis and tuberculosis, related to alcohol consumption and smoking chronic diseases and general health issues.