FORT "DRUM, N.Y. -- I'll take heroin for $500, Sergeant."
Walking into a training session in the conference room of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, one might be surprised to hear a Soldier call out this phrase. Watching a little more carefully, observers may be intrigued -- and relieved -- to realize that the Soldiers are completing mandatory Army Substance Abuse Prevention training in an unusual manner -- by playing "Jeopardy."
Sgt. Amanda Anniballi, ASAP unit prevention leader for the company, said that she wanted to take a different approach to a training that is sometimes dreaded by Soldiers and turn it into an opportunity for them to actively participate in learning.
"In a lot of the classes I had attended, we would listen to a lecture, and afterward the instructor would ask if anyone had any questions," she said. "The Soldiers would say 'we're good' because all they wanted to do was get out of there."
Anniballi said she was determined not to teach "at the Soldiers," but "to the Soldiers."
"I spent a lot of time thinking about what I could do to make the Soldiers enjoy the time they are spending in class," she said. "I want them to go into a class and learn in a way that keeps them involved and alert so that they really remember the information."
When she joined the Army in 2009, Anniballi said there was no doubt in her mind that she wanted to become a medic.
"My little sister has cystic fibrosis," she said. "She was diagnosed when I was about 6 or 7, and I spent a lot of time in the hospital with her. I actually told my first grade teacher that I wanted to be a pulmonologist when I grew up, and she had no idea what that was."
From then on, Anniballi's focus has been on caring for others and teaching them to care for themselves.
"It's kind of an automatic thing," she said. "You might notice that a Soldier is walking with limp. I like that I can assist them, suggest how they can care for themselves and even say 'you might want to get that checked out.' It's a great way to teach Soldiers that it's important to care for themselves and for battle buddies to look out for one another."
She said that while taking care of oneself -- mentally and physically -- is an important message that she teaches Soldiers, she wanted to do more. When her unit began looking for ASAP unit prevention leaders, she immediately volunteered.
"I feel that prevention is a big deal," she said. "There are so many people who take drugs and don't realize how much damage they are doing to their bodies."
Anniballi has seen -- firsthand -- just how devastating the effect of drug use can be on the body. One of her Family Members experienced an accidental overdose, while another recently died from heroin use.
"Drug testing is an effective way of finding out if a Soldier has been using drugs, but I feel that we should be doing more to educate Soldiers on prevention instead of focusing mostly on testing them."
Anniballi teaches Soldiers about many different types of drugs, but a lot of emphasis is placed on teaching about the dangers of heroin use. She said UPLs place a lot of focus on this particular drug for a few reasons.
"One reason is, of course, that it is extremely addictive," she said. "Another reason is that it is a synthetic drug. That means it is completely man-made, and you have no idea what might be added to it."
She said that sometimes individuals resort to drug use as a means of escaping stress and disconnecting from the pressures of daily life. While stress is not a problem limited to the Soldier population, Anniballi said that the difficulties that are a part of Army life can be a determining factor in someone's decision to use drugs.
"Soldiers don't always know what is going to happen from day to day," she said. "They deploy, they go into the field or away for training. They are away from their Families. Sometimes they take drugs because they want to shut down and escape from everything."
Anniballi said that this can cause many problems -- some that Soldiers may not anticipate when focused only on a quick fix for a stressful situation.
"Even if they don't get caught right away, their friends, Families and finances suffer," she said. "When they are caught, their marriages can fail. Their kids can be taken away and, obviously, they are going to be kicked out of the military."
There is also the issue of being a dependable member of the unit.
"We train and deploy side by side," she said. "Soldiers have to be able to trust one another and know 'as long as you have my back, I've got yours.' You aren't safe if you are working beside someone who has an alcohol or drug problem, and it could cost lives."
Her passion to teach Soldiers about the many detrimental effects of drug use and alcohol abuse led Anniballi to develop her innovative "drug jeopardy" game. Soldiers are split into teams, and they are given 15 minutes to study information on five different drugs. After the 15-minute time period is up, the competition begins.
"I thought -- let's take five drugs and have five questions about each," she said. "Each section has a different drug, and questions are valued from $100 to $500. The teams choose a question and have a limited amount of time to answer it. If they can't, another team can steal the question and answer it."
Spc. Evan Snyder said that he enjoyed the competitive nature of the game.
"I think a lot of us in the Army are competitive, so having the competitive aspect of this makes the information a lot more retainable," Snyder said. "It's fun to see what the other teams come up with and to beat them to the punch."
Cpl. Randal Wade agreed that the game was a much more interesting way to learn the content.
"Typically, the ASAP training I've been to is two hours of looking at PowerPoint slides," he said. "The service members who are conducting the slideshows try to liven it up, but it's hard to learn the material when you are just sitting there, and I leave not remembering most of what was taught."
Anniballi's drug jeopardy game is so effective in engaging Soldiers that other ASAP members are emulating her approach, said Thomas Russell, Fort Drum ASAP prevention coordinator.
"Her training aid is new, and other unit prevention leaders have started using it," he said. "ASAP has added Sgt. Anniballi as a guest speaker for UPL classes held monthly."
Russell said that after action reviews completed by the Soldiers whom Anniballi has trained reveal that they are enjoying the drug jeopardy game.
"Her approach is interactive … troops react more positively to the training," he said.
Anniballi is humble about these comments. She said she feels that, just as in her job as a medic, it's her responsibility to look out for the members of her team.
"I am a leader," she said. "It's my job to take care of my Soldiers. If I can teach Soldiers how serious drug use is -- if I can prevent one person from using drugs -- then I know I have done my job well."
If you are interested in learning more about Army Substance Abuse Prevention training opportunities, contact ASAP at (315) 772-3301.
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