Barracks Life: It's everyone's duty to prevent drunk and drugged driving

By Sgt. Mary S. Katzenberger, 4IBCT Public AffairsDecember 7, 2011

Barracks Life
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT STEWART, Ga. - I want you to mentally inject yourselves into a scenario: You and your friends are off duty hanging out at a local restaurant on a weeknight, and you happen to see a person you know to be a fellow Soldier with the 3rd Infantry Division--a Soldier who appears to be three sheets to the wind--mount her motorcycle in preparation to leave.

Do you remain seated and wave off the Soldier's exit with comments that the Soldier is an idiot and that it's merely her career she's hurting? Or do you intervene and prevent what could lead to the death of the Soldier or innocent motorists?

Just such an event played out before my friends and I a few weeks ago.

Being avid motorcyclists, my friends and I know that even the slightest bit of impairment greatly alters a rider's ability to safely negotiate the roadways--and the Soldier we saw preparing to leave was obviously well beyond a few drinks past clarity.

Without a second thought one of my friends jumped up from his seat and enlisted our help in preventing the Soldier from leaving.

The Soldier was belligerent and refused to tell us her name or unit, and refused our offer to call her a cab. The Soldier's actions did not stop my friend from discovering the Soldier's identity--my friend called the military police and they used the alphanumeric code located on the post decal on the motorcycle's fork to determine ownership.

My friends and I waited until close to midnight--posted in front of the motorcycle--for the Soldier's chain of command to arrive on scene. Come to find out, the Soldier had received a driving under the influence citation the week before.

The purpose of recounting this tale is not to brag, it is to demonstrate that we, as Soldiers, are duty-bound to prevent drunk and drugged driving, wherever and whenever, no matter how inconvenient the act may be.

The purpose of National Drunk and Drugged Prevention Month, which is observed throughout December, is not only about doing right by yourself; it's about doing right by your fellow Soldiers.

Doing right by your fellow Soldiers means stepping up instead of looking away.

It means putting yourself into uncomfortable situations when you'd rather be having fun.

It's about having enough backbone and intestinal fortitude to do what's morally right.

And believe it or not, when you signed the contract with Uncle Sam, you sacrificed your right to ambivalence. You promised to protect your battle buddy on and off the field of combat--period.

This month I want you all to think long and hard about whether or not you have what it takes to do the right thing. If you find yourself weak in this area, the best exercise is bucking up and jumping in to intervene.