Australian Navy Pays for Breast Implants

Breast enhancements aren't just for movie stars and the wealthy -- the Australian navy has paid for its servicemembers (well, the servicewomen at least) to get breast implants, and other cosmetic procedures, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Defence spent more than $1.1 million of taxpayer funds last year paying for breast implants, tummy tucks, nose jobs and other cosmetic surgery procedures for service personnel.

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*Official figures show that during the past two years, three defence personnel have had tummy tucks and13 women have had their breasts enlarged. *

Five operations were conducted after female personnel complained of psychological issues.

The cost of the cosmetic surgery increased from $670,000 in 2004-05 to $1.1 million last year.

Before you laugh at the Aussies, remember, the U.S. military offers similar perks (pun intended). As Karen Schlaer wrote in the the New Yorker back in 2004:

*It is true: personnel in all four branches of the military and members of their immediate families can get face-lifts, nose jobs, breast enlargements, liposuction, or any other kind of elective cosmetic alteration, at taxpayer expense. (For breast enlargements, patients must supply their own implants.) There is no limit on the number of cosmetic surgeries one soldier can have, although, Lyons said, “we don’t do extreme makeovers in the military.” *