My name is Roberto Iaboni and I am a Petty Officer Third Class serving in the United States Coast Guard. I am father to a beautiful 20 month girl and husband to the most understanding wife in the planet. I am now 25 years old and had been smoking since I was 16. I was not a regular smoker until I joined the military five years ago. I would have the occasional cigarette around smoker friends and could typically have a box of cigarettes last me a week or more. Five years ago I joined the Coast Guard. I successfully made it through the eight weeks of basic training without touching a cigarette. Unfortunately that did not last long, upon graduation from basic training and departure from Training Center Cape May I resumed where I had left off prior to boot camp, to have a cigarette with a friend that attended my graduation. Five days after graduating boot camp and many cigarettes later I reported to my first duty station in Charleston, SC on May 17 2009. My first impressions of my new duty station were phenomenal, I was placed onboard a 378 ft cutter, in dry-dock. ƒ??This is greatƒ? I thought to myself, ƒ??I get to go home every night.ƒ? As the work days progressed so did my smoking, I found myself going outside for smoke breaks much more regularly, smoking much more regularly than I had ever been. I turned 21 in August and my smoking became even more of a problem. Now I was going through a whole pack or more on a night out on the town. I never considered myself nicotine dependant or a smoker until the first time I got sick in Charleston. I got a pretty bad cold my first winter up there, and before it had never been an issue to not pick up a cigarette, but this time it was different. I found myself buying light cigarettes so that my throat wouldnƒ??t hurt as bad, but I had to have my cigarette, and I was smoking reds prior to this point. After I got better I kept smoking my usual pack-a-day plus. In October of 2010 I married my high-school sweetheart. In February of 2011 she became pregnant. My first quit attempt. I tried cutting back at first. I stopped smoking around her for obvious reasons, but instead of cutting back I found myself going outside more often to have a cigarette. The cutting back never happened. I attempted chewing tobacco but it gave me terrible heartburm (and no, I was not swallowing the juice). When my daughter was born in October I gave quitting another shot, my second attempt at quitting. I tried cutting back again to no avail. For the sake of my daughter I tried the gum. That only lasted a couple of days. I had terrible cravings for a cigarette and again the heart burn. So I kept smoking, but it had now become a tedious chore. Every time I went outside to smoke a cigarette I had to change my shirt and wash my face and my arms so as to reduce the exposure my daughter had to the chemicals embedded on me. I must have been washing my face and arms about fifteen times a day, and after three or four t-shirts I just decided it would be easier to have a ƒ??smokingƒ? t-shirt. About five months ago today (back in February) I gave the patches a go. The cravings were back and I actually got sick due to smoking with the patches on. So I kept smoking. On July 10th 2013 I was laying in bed with my wife and she asked me when I was going to quit, she could not stand the smell I brought inside every time I smoked. I was doing some online reading and stumbled upon an online forum for e-cigarettes (http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com). After some careful research and a chat with the wife she encouraged me to order a starter kit. I ordered the kGo starter kit with a set of low resistance cartomizers after reading they provided a very good throat hit (the feeling of warmth that emulates the feeling of hot smoke in the back of the throat) and some menthol e-liquid. I originally got the set to help me cut back. The set arrived the following Monday, and since I was on duty at the base my wife was kind enough to bring them up. I was so excited and satisfied with the e-cigarette that I did not pick up a cigarette the rest of the day. I started the e-cigarette at about 1600 that day and by the time I hit the rack it was around 2200. Those six hours without a cigarette felt like a huge milestone, considering that I could not recall the last time I went six hours without smoking. The next day I gave the e-cigarette a try with my morning coffee, a habit that I thought would always involve a cigarette. Much to my surprise the e-cigarette was satisfying, and I did not feel the urge to pick up a cigarette. Throughout the day I had a few cravings, but I convinced myself that if I was able to go six hours the day before that I did not need a cigarette. That was my first full day without smoking since I was sixteen. Wednesday went on much like Tuesday, except I was off-duty and at home with my wife and daughter. I used the e-cigarette much like I did the day before taking a couple of puffs throughout the day and a couple extra when I felt the cravings. Thursday night a good friend came over to have dinner at the house. He and his wife were intrigued by the e-cigarette and the fact that I was not smoking. My biggest surprise was that I was drinking a few beers and I had not picked up a cigarette. Later on in the night we went outside for a ƒ??smokeƒ?, he was smoking his usual Camel Menthols and I was puffing happily on my e-cigarette. I decided to try and take a hit of his cigarette and could not believe how bad it tasted. That was the last cigarette I picked up. As of tomorrow will be three weeks since I have had a cigarette. I feel better than I have in years. During our annual physical test last week I actually cut a whole minute off my time for the mile and a half. My clothes no longer stink, and neither do I. My wife could not be prouder and neither could I. I have read multiple success stories on the forums and see so many other who were smokers for over twenty and thirty years, and it makes me so glad to know that thanks to the e-cigarettes I never had to get to that point. Quitting cigarettes has been the easiest thing I ever did with e-cigarettes, and I am now lowering my nicotine levels. After starting at 24mg I switched the next week to 18mg, this past week I have been on 12mg and I am probably going to 10mg starting next week. The fact that I was addicted to cigarettes is starting to feel like I was more addicted to the habit and routine than the nicotine, and the fact that the e-cigarettes allow me to continue the routine has made it easier than I ever expected to quit. I was not even expecting to quit when I picked up my starter kit.