FORT DRUM, N.Y. (May 21, 2015) -- Company-level command teams from across the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), came together May 11 for Alcohol Awareness Training to crosstalk and gain knowledge from outside sources to find ways to get the situation under control.
"Coincidentally, this was a weekend in which we had four (DWIs)," said Col. Frederick "Mark" O'Donnell, 1st BCT commander. "Think about it. Think about if we were in Afghanistan and we walked outside the (forward operating base) and we had four Soldiers lost to the formation. We would attack the problem.
"It is important for us to understand the complexity and the seriousness of this issue," he continued. "It is a readiness issue. It is a discipline issue."
One of the main ways leaders address safety during off-duty times is by conducting weekly safety briefings. However, leaders want to find more relevant ways to address the issue of driving while intoxicated that will hit home with Soldiers.
Although O'Donnell's time as the brigade commander is coming to a close, his concern for the Soldiers is something that will never end. He wants leaders to be creative in how they approach this subject with the Soldiers.
"My personal belief is, with respect to our approach to Soldiers, the Friday safety briefing just doesn't work. We've got to be more real," he told the group of leadership teams. "However it is that you can be more real with Soldiers about the impacts of this, we've got to figure that out."
Additionally, the group also received current and updated information from law enforcement personnel.
Capt. David Shannon, Fort Drum Police deputy chief of plans and training, posed questions that made the group start thinking about the problem in different ways.
"What kind of fear is there to not get a DWI? What kind of fear can (leaders) put in them? (Those are) the types of things that are going to prevent them from going out and getting the DWIs -- if they know they are going to be in serious trouble, lose rank and stuff like that," Shannon said. "For a married Soldier, what's the difference between going from an E5 to an E4, from an E4 to an E3? Or getting separated out of the Army like they're talking about? That's what (the Soldiers) need to see and understand."
Throughout the training, statistics were mentioned that brought about the hard truths of the situation.
"(Statistics from) 2011 are the most recent stats that I could find that were pretty accurate. We had 32,000-plus total traffic deaths; that's the lowest number (in the U.S.) since 1949. If you average that out, it's about 3.7 every hour," Shannon explained. "Prior to 1994, nearly half of the drivers who died in crashes had been drinking. In 2002, alcohol-related fatalities rose 17,000-plus, representing 41 percent of all traffic fatalities."
It is widely known that driving while intoxicated is a serious offense, but there was a key point that Shannon wanted everyone to understand.
"Is it illegal to drive a car after drinking alcohol? No. Is it illegal to drive a car after being intoxicated from alcohol? Yes. There is a difference," Shannon said.
Another speaker at the training was Capt. Kate Mitroka, acting deputy judge advocate for 1st BCT. While covering a wide array of information that leaders need to know and understand, she had one key point that she wanted to hit home.
"When (the leadership) gets notified that someone in (the) ranks has received a … DWI, (the chain of command) has to immediately initiate separation," she said. "If (he or she is) an officer, that's going to happen automatically at division level. But if it's one the Soldiers, (leaders) have to initiate it. If the Soldier is an E-7, but is an acting first sergeant or above, it counts as senior leader misconduct and is automatically at the commanding general's level."
Shannon gave examples of situations he has come across during his more than 20 years in law enforcement.
"We had a Soldier here tell us, after he got arrested, that he had made it through the gate 13 times before -- he had counted -- 13 times before drunk and never got caught, and on the 14th time he got nabbed," Shannon told the group. "That was coming through the gate, face-to-face contact with someone, showing them their ID card, stopping at the gate. He made it through 13 times before he got picked up.
"When he got picked up, (his blood alcohol content) was a 0.17," Shannon continued. "He said when (he) went through the first time, he had four (drinks), so he knew he was good. So he had five the next time; then he had six. He worked his way up, got up to a 12-pack. He said that's his cutoff, because that's when he got arrested. The thinking there wasn't right."
As the formal training wrapped up and the leaders headed outside to test out the go-cart and drunk goggles, which simulate intoxicated driving, 1st Sgt. Daniel Shealy, A Company, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment senior noncommissioned officer, took a moment to reflect on the information he had just received.
"I was unaware of the general information such as number of incidents within the brigade -- makes it hit home more. A lot of that information is pipelined, so to speak, so I don't necessarily know the current trends going on in (other units). I'm more focused on my little piece of the pie. But what's happening to them I guarantee is happening to my Soldiers as well," Shealy said.
"Getting us all together, just talking about some of the key points and what's going on -- what might work for (someone else) could be able to work for me," he continued. "That crosstalk between various command teams -- that's one of the best ways to get the information to counter trends and misconceptions that are going on in the standard rank and file in our formations."
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