Abstract: Obesity, alcohol use and hypertension place military service members at a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). The current study utilised the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) data to conduct a retrospective cohort study on the incidence rate trends of CVD and six risk factors (per 10 000) in active duty service members from 2016 to 2021. The average incidence rates of CVD diagnoses in active service members decreased except for angina. Specifically, aortic aneurysm and tear, atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease (PVD), stroke and heart attack incidence rates decreased (-31.94%, -29.91%, -19.58%, -9.36%, and -3.49%, respectively). However, incidence rates of angina increased by 14.77%. When examining CVD and risk factors, the incidence rate of inappropriate diet increased (54.58%). The remaining risk factors, such as diagnoses of overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus (types 1 & 2), hypertension, high cholesterol and tobacco use (-21.42, -39.31%, -30.08%, -24.41%, and -36.85%, respectively) decreased between the years 2016 and 2021. The decrease in incidence rates of CVD warrants further investigation into the explanations for this decline. The large overrepresentation of specific demographics signals a warranted need to increase screening efforts for those at increased risk.