Drugs: Count the Career Costs
In The Story Factor, Annette Simmons (2001)
said, “Without a story, facts don’t mean anything” (p. 79). “Story,” Simmons
says, “is a form of mental imprint” (p. 29).
Our culture is heavily influenced by past stories and future
possibilities. Fluid and evolving,
society’s standards are steadily dissected to ensure equal benefits and to
promote our democratic system. As a
result, actions acceptable twenty-years ago are frowned upon today. Conversely, what was appalling two decades
ago is widely accepted today. Nowhere is
this truer than in the U.S. military; especially in the area of drug use. If you had visited a typical military unit in
1983, about one in four service members would have used illegal drugs. If you had visited the same unit in 1998,
about three out of 100 service members admitted to using drugs (Rhem, n.d.). Coupled with regulations and education in the
fight against drugs, military leaders are also using stories to drive their
point home.
Air Force (AF)
Instruction 44-121, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT)
Program provides guidance to AF leaders for the identification, treatment, and
management of personnel with substance abuse problems and describes AF policy
regarding alcohol and drug abuse (AFMOA/SGHW). The Department of Defense (DOD) labs test 60,000
urine samples each month and all active duty members must undergo a urinalysis
at least once per year. Every urine sample
is tested for marijuana, cocaine, and amphetamines. The Air Force is very serious about its
stance on drug use.
According to AFPAM
36-2241, “Illegal or improper use of drugs by an Air Force member is a serious
breach of discipline, is incompatible with service in the Air Force, and
automatically places the member’s continued service in jeopardy. The Air Force does not tolerate such conduct;
therefore, drug abuse can lead to criminal prosecution resulting in punitive
discharge or administrative actions, including, separation or discharge under
other than honorable conditions” (p. 238).
In January 1997,
the Air Force published a set of core values.
The following values exist for all members of the Air Force. They are Integrity
First, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do. In more detail, integrity is the willingness to do what is right even when no one
is looking. It is the moral compass—the
inner voice; the voice of self-control; the basis for the trust imperative in
today’s military. Service before self tells us that professional duties take
precedence over personal desires. And
lastly, excellence in all we do
directs us to develop a sustained passion for the continuous improvement and
innovation that will propel the Air Force into a long-term, upward spiral of
accomplishment and performance (DAF, 1997).
Studying the AF
core values, reading the regulations against drug use, and acknowledging that
others depend on your actions should engender every military member to make
right decisions. Using drugs within your
first year on military active duty is careless, destructive, and immature. Using drugs as a senior non-commissioned
officer with six months left to retire is categorically one of the dumbest
decisions a person can make.
At nineteen years
of service, I had a front row seat as my coworker “popped a positive” on a
random urinalysis. At 41-years old, he
had submitted his retirement paperwork.
Completing nineteen years and six months in the Air Force, he was ready
to settle down with his family in the local area. Within 30 days of a producing a positive
urinalysis, his retirement was denied, he faced a court-martial, and was
demoted from an E7, Master Sergeant to an E4, Senior Airmen. He was also ordered to spend three month at
the Naval BRIG in Norfolk, Virginia.
When all was said and done, he was discharged from the Air Force under
other-than-honorable-conditions. The
result: No retirement ceremony. No pension. No benefits. My coworker was escorted off the base and left
the Air Force after twenty-years of service with nothing to show for it but a
criminal record. And for what? Because he chose to ignore the core values and
military regulations on drug use.
Because he wanted to celebrate a night with his friends and a few grams
of cocaine.
My coworker’s sad
story quickly made its way through the ranks.
From the lowest airmen to the highest general, everyone was told his
tragic tale and the consequences of using drugs in the Air Force. While heartbreaking, this story reinforces the
zero tolerance view on drug use. It
demonstrates that drugs are incompatible with AF core values and good order and
discipline. By telling this story
throughout Air Force channels, members realize that if you choose to use drugs,
you will eventually get caught and be punished.
As folks ponder the lifetime costs of my coworker’s decision (retirement
pay + benefits + future employment prospects), it reinforces the importance of
character, integrity, and accountability.
This incident
happened a decade ago. My coworker has
moved out of state and I’ve been retired for over eight years. My current position with Lockheed Martin has
me working side-by-side with Air Force personnel at Langley AFB in Virginia—the
same base from which I retired.
Recently, I overheard a Master Sergeant speaking to a young airman about
the dangers and costs of doing drugs.
And wouldn’t you know he referred to a certain Master Sergeant who was
caught using cocaine shortly before his retirement. He said the man was dishonorably discharged
and lost everything. Though a few of his
details were incorrect, the crux of the message was delivered: When making
decisions, count the cost. It’s a good
lesson for all of us.
Legacy counts the cost.
Steve
References:
Department of the Air Force.
(2003). Air Force Pamphlet 36-2241, Volume 1. Promotion Fitness
Examination Study
Guide.
Department of the Air Force.
(1997). Air Force Core Values. Retrieved from
Department of the Air Force.
(2011). Air Force Instruction 44-121. Alcohol
and Drug Abuse
Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) Program.
Retrieved from http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AFI44-121.pdf
Rhem, K. T. (n.d.). American Forces
Press Service: A Look at Drug Use and Testing Within the
Military.
Retrieved from http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/bldrugtests3.htm
Simmons, A. (2001). The Story Factor. Cambridge, MA. Basic Books.
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