Instead of reaching for cigarettes and chewing tobacco, DoD is encouraging active-duty servicemembers to reach for their cell phones to access tips, advice and support from the Quit Tobacco-Make Everyone Proud (QTMEP) campaign at www.ucanquit2.org.

The average smoker saves more than $1,600 per year by quitting, and even more each year as the price of tobacco continues to rise. Active military lifestyles can make it difficult to stick to a quit plan, so in addition to the Web site, DoD also offers an alternative: Instead of opening their wallets to buy another pack of cigarettes or chewing tobacco, enlisted personnel can open a text message for a virtual pep talk, or access the campaign’s Web site on their cell phones.

QuitTips, the text-message service, helps Sailors quit tobacco with timely tips, reminders and positive reinforcement during their busy day, when they are more likely to spend their cash on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Users sign up to receive three texts per week at www.ucanquit2.org⁄quittips or by texting ‘‘UCAN” to 35350 (subscription is free, standard text messaging rates may apply).

‘‘We want to reach young enlisted men and women where they are — online and on their phones,” said Dr. David Arday, Captain, U.S. Public Health Service, and chairman of the DoD Alcohol and Tobacco Advisory Committee. ‘‘Our text-message and mobile services make it easier and more convenient to access the campaign’s tobacco cessation support.”

According to a 2009 Nielsen Mobile report, landlines are being replaced by mobile phones, and cell phone users are texting much more than talking.

In the U.S., text-message usage increased by 107 percent from 2007 to 2008, and continues to grow.

As texting increases, so does the number of public health initiatives using the tool to reach their audiences. Studies following a text-message campaign for smokers in New Zealand, Britain and Norway found that those who received tobacco-cessation texts daily were twice as likely to quit smoking for as long as one year.

Sailors on the go can access the mobile site at http:⁄⁄wap.ucanquit2. org⁄.

Once there, they will be able to locate support, access tobacco-related news and use a calculator to add up the cash savings from quitting tobacco.

All services and materials, including a customizable Quit Plan, a live chat service with trained coaches, news articles, games, links to the campaign’s Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube pages, RSS feeds, and widgets, are designed specifically for military members and are available free of charge at www.ucanquit2.org.