The United States Armed Forces have active alcohol and substance abuse programs in all branches. Reaching military personnel, many of whom are in the high-risk category of 21- to 34-year-olds, is a major goal of 3D Prevention Month. Every military installation (training facility, base, or foreign post) can participate in 3D Prevention Month.

Communities that have a military presence should recruit the facility as a partner in any 3D Prevention Month coalition efforts. In addition, the base or installation itself can sponsor programs for its military personnel. Here are some suggestions:

• Provide a stream of information to your local community, including flyers, pamphlets, posters, and 3D Prevention Month artwork.

• Coordinate with the Public Affairs Office (PAO) to include prevention messages in local PAO activities.

• Send out weekly info-grams via e-mail to post agencies. Include information about impaired driving and strategies for avoiding driving while impaired.

• Collect and distribute alcohol-free beverage recipes for holiday parties and other occasions throughout the year.

• Enlist local media in developing local promotional pieces that incorporate company and unit logos or slogans with 3D Prevention Month bumper stickers, banners, or badges.

• Develop and submit articles to installation and civilian community newspapers.

• Decorate office, unit, and post bulletin boards with anti-impaired driving messages.

• Create an assortment of prevention displays throughout the post including community recreation centers, post exchanges, and commissaries.

• Set up driving while intoxicated (DWI) checkpoints on post in coordination with the Military Police and off post in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies.

• Establish New Year’s Eve Safe Ride programs offered by post organizations such as Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) or a Safety Cabs program offered by local communities for the entire holiday season.

• Enlist the Military Police to co-sponsor “rollover convincers” or other simulators which demonstrate how drivers and passengers are injured in a crash.

• Organize simulated crash and response enactments throughout the post community.

• Coordinate prevention expert panels for post television and radio stations. Appear on local talk shows with representatives from post agencies who are also concerned with impaired driving.

• Secure prevention videos from local and national organizations for use in local media, awareness, and training activities.

• Provide the installation or base Commander with an information briefing and talking points that can be incorporated in command communications.

• Develop a prevention-focused “Commander’s Hour” on the local television station.

• Write 3D Prevention Month Tips of the Day to be broadcast during morning and afternoon drive times on post and civilian radio stations during December.

• Coordinate specifically targeted programs with your Installation Prevention Team or Human Resource Council.

• Publish a post prevention calendar with daily and weekly installation events.

• Contact the local Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) chapter for information, resources, and local data for distribution. Distribute MADD Red Ribbons at key high traffic areas on post.

• Organize a kickoff event at the post club with guest speakers and local dignitaries.

• Provide incentives and give-aways for increasing awareness and offer them at on-post schools, clubs, and exchanges.

• Develop a 3D Prevention Month proclamation to be signed by the installation or base commander.

• Offer holiday awareness training to servers who work at on-post clubs.

• Involve other on-post activities in cross-training opportunities, i.e., coordinate with the Safety Office to provide a driving and weapons safety program for the holiday period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

• Organize a “lunch and learn” program and invite military personnel and area residents to participate in discussions of impaired driving issues and potential solutions.

• Coordinate a community forum or town meeting to present local data on impaired driving incidences and brainstorm strategies for change. Invite local community and post program experts.

• Organize a victim impact panel. (This can be effectively presented at the local high school, too.)

• Coordinate military awareness and education efforts with local civilian organizations to present a unified stand on the issues.

• Involve leadership in prevention efforts whenever possible.

• Develop public service announcements using command or local agency personnel.

• Develop and have available generic fact sheets on the issues incorporating local post incident data; these can be distributed regularly or when last-minute opportunities occur.

Successful Program: U.S. Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs

The U.S. Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs (ACSAP) is the Army’s lead agency for substance abuse prevention, education, and training, providing operational supervision, direction, evaluation, oversight, and policy development for all elements of the Army Drug and Alcohol Prevention and Control Program (ADAPCP). The ADAPCP serves more than 2 million Army personnel assigned to over 150 installations and reserve commands worldwide and has expertise in Army, military, and military family needs as they pertain to alcohol and other drug prevention. As part of a comprehensive prevention approach, ACSAP has implemented a range of targeted strategies for reduction of soldier high risk behaviors. These include:

Installation Prevention Team Training (IPTT)
IPTT is a 3-day course designed to apply best practices approaches to installation-wide prevention and risk reduction efforts. This program brings together multi-disciplined teams from Army posts to develop a collaborative, installation-wide prevention program.

Soldier Risk Reduction Program (SRRP)
Risk reduction is the process of identifying and preventing high-risk problem behaviors which can directly impact individual and unit combat readiness. SRRP consists of three components: collection and analysis of quarterly data on high-risk incidence; consultation with commanders on individual and specific unit issues; and identification and implementation of appropriate intervention strategies.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Training Program (ADAPT)
ADAPT provides an opportunity to intervene through education and awareness activities with identified soldiers who have exhibited high-risk substance abuse behaviors. The program increases participants’ knowledge about substance abuse, impaired driving, and the negative impacts of one’s substance abuse on those around him or her, while strengthening individual skills and competencies.

Unit Prevention Leader (UPL) Training
This is a new training curriculum for the young noncommissioned officer (NCO) on assessing, developing, organizing, implementing, evaluating, and leading the unit’s substance abuse prevention and biochemical testing efforts. This interactive CD-ROM will serve over 7,000 soldiers in the field.

Soldier Peer Education Program
The Soldier Peer Education Program supports the premise that peers can play a uniquely effective role in encouraging their peers to develop responsible habits, attitudes, and lifestyles regarding alcohol and related issues. The program goal is to promote the Army’s substance abuse prevention and risk reduction programs in concert with other soldier health and safety concerns.

In support of the nationwide stand against impaired driving, the Army seeks out opportunities to reinforce the message that impaired driving is unacceptable and threatens military readiness. Special projects include production of a “Be Smart” impaired driving prevention poster in 1997; a second drunk driving prevention poster in 1998; and, in coordination with the Office of the Chief of Staff, production of a safety video for National 3D Prevention Month in 1996. All materials are distributed to Army, National Guard, and Reserve Commands around the world.

For more information please contact:

Mallary Tytel, Ph.D.

U.S. Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs

4501 Ford Avenue

Suite 320

Alexandria, VA 22302

Phone: (703) 681-5583

Fax: (703) 681-6575

E-mail: tytel@usadaoa-emh1.army.mil