Study aim: To assess health and social characteristics of female candidates for professional officers and non-commissioned officers of Polish Army.

Material and methods: All female students of officer and non-commissioned officer Military Academies (16 each) were studied in 2009. Two questionnaires were applied in the study: IPAQ (short) for assessing the level of physical activity of the respondents and a specially designed questionnaire for assessing social situation, perceived health and pro-health behaviours.

Results: The influence of the society on the respondents' decision to join the army is significantly higher among NCOS students than in the group of OS respondents (p<0.05). OS students perceive their health better than their NCOS mates (p<0.05). Among students' pro-health behaviours that were assessed in the research, the most advantageously presented is their physical activity. NCOS students are more resilient mentally (p<0.01), yet their inclination to make use of health service is much lower (p<0.01).

Conclusions: The modern educational trends in health promotion call for modifying the existing military school curricula by including health education issues so that the superiors acquire not only commanding skills but become also exemplary health educators.