SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- The Army Substance Abuse Program hosted several service trips throughout April to highlight healthy habits during Alcohol Awareness Month.
Paul Hogan, the garrison’s prevention coordinator, partnered with the University of Hawaii’s Lyon Arboretum and La’i Peace Center on the North Shore to provide an innovative outlook on how to expand training for Soldiers on high-risk alcohol use.
These alcohol-free activities included Soldiers 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, spending time and working with land conservationists to clear hiking trails, learn about native plants and traditional uses, the loʻi and watershed systems, mindfulness meditation, gardening, and land maintenance.
“After giving drug and alcohol trainings to Soldiers after incidents, many would tell me there’s nothing to do in Hawaii but drink,” Hogan said. “That’s simply not true. I wanted to introduce an opportunity to give them a sense of what Hawaii has to offer.”
Hogan, who attended college on island, was inspired by an environmental philosophy class that focused on Hawaii’s history and its peoples’ relationship to the land.
“(That class) gave me a sense of purpose and pride in what I was doing. It changed my perspective of Hawaii and gave me something to work toward,” Hogan explained. “I wanted to share that with Soldiers who may be struggling and filling their time with excessive alcohol use.”
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 140,000 people per year die from alcohol misuse in the U.S., making it one of the leading causes of preventable deaths.
Alcohol misuse is linked to more than 200 disease and injury-related conditions, meaning alcohol misuse contributes substantially to health care costs and lost productivity and affects people’s health in ways that they may not realize.
Alcohol Awareness Month takes place in April every year and offers communities a chance to gain more understanding of how individuals struggle with alcohol abuse, offers advice and help for those affected, and highlights the serious health issues caused by alcohol.
The public health awareness campaign was established in 1987 by the National Council for Alcoholism and Drug Dependence with the aim of raising awareness for communities and to help understand the causes and treatment available for one of the nation's biggest health issues.
High-risk behavior has to be replaced with a new behavior, according to Hogan. With that idea in mind, Hogan made it the Army Substance Abuse Program’s goal to hold these outreach events to change at least one Soldier’s perspective on there not being anything to do on the weekends other than drink.
Based on the feedback he’s received, it’s changed several.
“At each outreach session, I opened and closed each day with a conversation about high-risk alcohol use and mental health,” Hogan said. “Several Soldiers expressed that it felt good to hang out with their peers out of uniform without consuming alcohol, to do things they grew up doing, and work towards something bigger than themselves.”
The Army Substance Abuse Program plans to incorporate similar outreach events into future training and information campaigns. Soldiers and civilian employees interested in future events or training sessions should contact Paul Hogan at (808) 655-8322 for more information.
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