0 – 0 – 1 – 3’s
Sobering Message
A new motto for airmen
0 – Stands for: Zero drinks if you’re under 21
0 – Stands for: Zero drinking and driving
1 – Stands for: No more than one drink per hour
3 – Stands for: No more than three drinks per night
Program aims to spark change in drinking culture
– and it’s working
By: Cara Eastwood
When he started hearing wisecracks about it, Col. Evan Hoapili knew the
culture change had begun.
“I hear people joke about going down to the Shopette and picking up
a three-pack,” he said, and that’s when the commander of the
90th Space Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base know people were paying attention
to his new plan to promote responsible alcohol consumption and reduce underage
drinking among airmen here.
Hoapili said even the airmen who oppose the new plan will be changed by
it.
The joking means people are talking about it. And that means the plan is
working, he said.
“ Even if you hate this, even if you think its bunk- you’re
still subconsciously monitoring your behavior,” he said. “That’s
why it works.
The plan aims to change the very culture that dictates how and why people
drink alcohol. By incorporating education, prevention and punitive disciplinary
actions, the plan is designed to impact individual airmen, the base as a
whole and the broader community outside the gates.
The effort is in response to a trend of alcohol-related incidents involving
airmen that Hoapili noticed after taking command in August 2003.
The relatively high number of alcohol-related incidents at F.E. Warren reflects
a growing public health crisis that presents a “clear and present
danger,” he said.
Alcohol is a root cause of much of the crime on the base and around the
nation, including assaults, robberies, car accidents, domestic abuse, sexual
assaults and drawings, he said.
To combat the problem, Hoapili and his staff developed a media campaign
designed to promote responsible drinking and a slogan, “0-0-1-3,”
that appears in advertisements and on posters written in a flashy, urban
script that looks like graffiti.
“ The numbers stand for zero drinking if you’re under 21, zero
drinking and driving, no more than one drink per hour and no more than three
drinks in a night,” he said.
The easy-to-remember set of numbers establishes a new norm that, if adhered
to during a night of drinking, will keep most people’s blood alcohol
content below .05, he said. That particular BAC number is significant, Hoapili
said, because it’s the point where people can still make good decisions.
In addition to the slogan and ad campaigns, the effort has inspired a host
of new alcohol free events for airmen who are under 21, and the base has
instituted a pre-screening program to identify problem drinkers when they
first set foot on the base.
The sooner the people are identified, the sooner they can get treatment,
the commander said.
A growing health crisis
When Hoapili took over as base commander, he became interested in surveying
alcohol use on the base and determining the drug’s influence in crimes
committed either on base or by airmen in the area, he said. At first, it
was impossible to measure the problem, since the data didn’t exist,
Hoapili said.
In the past, base officials didn’t track such information, and no
database existed that would allow for the cross-referencing of cases to
yield the statistics the commander wanted to develop.
He assembled Air Force medical staff, command leaders and legal officers
for a research mission that involved reviewing all the cases in the past
year to determine if alcohol played a role.
From August to November the group worked to compile the data
When the research was complete, the group determined that 133 incidents
had involved alcohol and 29 of those were DUIs. The group found 70 underage
drinking incidents, 24 assaults and 11 sexual assaults that occurred with
alcohol as an important factor.
The average age of those involved in such incidents was 19, the group found.
The penalties inflicted for the infractions included 32 airmen being reduced
in rank, which means the loss of at least $300 each month for at least sex
months, he said. Hoapili’s staff estimated the forfeiture of pay cost
those involved almost $14,000.
As he started to get a picture of the problem, Hoapili began working with
FACE, a Michigan – based, nonprofit organization that supports the
development of “sensible alcohol practices” by increasing awareness
of the intimate ties between alcohol and public health issues.
“ We took the national research, and we made it into our program,”
Hoapili said.
FACE researchers discovered some startling numbers when they determined
that many young people now begin drinking as young as 9 or 10 years old,
he said. This early onset of drinking is proven to do real damage to developing
brains, Hoapili said, and can permanently affect a person’s ability
to make decisions.
“ If they start then and they come to me at 18, that becomes a real
problem.”
To gain more information about drinking habits of people on base, Hoapili’s
research group recruited 41 volunteers to take an anonymous survey.
The survey found that 28 percent of those volunteers fell into a high-risk
drinking category, while 14 percent were in the very high-risk drinking
category Hoapili said.
The survey also determined that compared to the overall U.S. population,
the base population reflected a higher percentage of heavy drinkers. According
to the survey, most heavy drinkers ere older, Hoapili said, while the younger
adults reported drinking less.
“ It told us that they’re developing their habits somewhere
along the line in their lives. It’s all about culture,” Hoapili
said.
Tackling the problem
Once the data had been compiled, Hoapili sat down with his command staff
and analyzed the number.
Survey responses indicated that the base culture was one that encouraged
heavy drinking.
In order to change the culture, the commander and his staff decided to target
the younger airmen at F.E. Warren and try to change their drinking “norms.”
To reach individual airmen, the group instituted a prescreening program
designed to identify problem drinkers as soon as they arrive on base. Once
identified, these people will now be sent through treatment programs to
try to help solve their problems before they become worse.
Disciplinary measures also were enhanced to help airmen understand the seriousness
of the new program, Hoapili said.
The “0-0-1-3” slogan soon became the most visible base wide
education tactic. In addition, an advertising campaign that alternates between
messages aimed at the younger group and messages targeting older airmen
began to appear on posters and billboards on base.
Hoapili also reached out to the community outside the base. He said his
staff has raised the level of collaboration with local law enforcement in
the support of responsible alcohol service at bars, restaurants and retail
establishments.
Hoapili sent a letter to every alcohol distributor in the area that gave
notice of the new effort to encourage responsible drinking among airmen.
If he recognizes a pattern of alcohol-related incidents linked to one establishment,
Hoapili can use the Disciplinary Control Board to forbid airmen form patronizing
the establishment-even if it’s hundreds of miles form the base.
“ It’s different in the military. I have a lot of power to enforce
these things, and I can compel people to do things,” Hoapili said.
One of the military’s “core competencies,” he said, is
to change people’s behavior for the better.
With the introduction of the new drinking norms, the base is taking an aggressive
step forward in combating excessive alcohol use, which Hoapili believes
to be the next public health crisis.
“ They’re looking at us as a pilot program,” he said.
“We’re stepping out in the biggest way.”
Offering alternate activities
To give underage airmen more opportunities for nonalcoholic social activities,
Hoapili endorsed the creation of the Make a Difference Crew, a team of young
and energized airmen who plan and execute alcohol-free events for the under-21
crowd.
“ This group has a very aggressive agenda,” he said, and has
been instrumental in creating an array of activities ranging from paintball
to late night swimming at the aquatic center.
MAD Crew President Airman 1st Class Sivan McCoy said the group aims to create
attention grabbing, athletic activities that appeal to 18 to 25 year-old
airmen.
“ If you’ve got something interesting to do here, you’re
probably not going to go out and get drunk,” McCoy said on a recent
Thursday as he strapped on his protective gear before a paintball game.
The popular Thursday night sessions usually draw up to 40 airmen at a time,
he said.
A program called Dorm Escape offers airmen a chance to play pool, surf the
Internet or use several PlayStation units at the First Term Airman Center
that stays open on Wednesdays until midnight.
The MAD crew also gained permission to invite young people from the community
to Friday night dances in the basement of the Trail’s End Club on
base. Air Force police move the security gates back for the events, allowing
non Air Force vehicles to come on base for the dances without needing sponsorship
form an Air Force member.
“ This generation waits until 9:30 or 10 p.m. to decide what to do,
and they’ll make up their minds in a nanosecond and then go,”
Hoapili said. By recruiting airmen to plan the events for their peers, the
commander said, the events are more successful than if they were designed
by the older officers.
“ What works for a 40 year old is not going to appeal to an 18 year
old,” he said.
Going Air Force – wide?
Hoapili’s effort to promote responsible drinking at F.E. Warren Air
Force Base has not gone unnoticed by senior Air Force leadership.
He’s been invited to speak at several national conventions on the
subject and has caught the attention of industry leaders who may look to
the effort as a pilot program.
“ There are several copies of the briefing that have been taken back
to Air Force Space Command headquarters in Colorado, and they’re evaluating
it,” said Master Sgt. Jeff Bohn of F.E. Warren public affairs.
As the 2004 numbers pour in, the plan seems to be working.
Total incident numbers are down to 74 so far for this year, and 31 percent
of those involved are repeat offenders.
“ That’s a 49 percent reduction in incidents, a 37 percent reduction
in infractions and a 27 percent reduction in DUIs,” Hoapili said.
Dormitory damage also is down, a staff member noted.
The average age of those involved in alcohol-related incidents has risen
from 19 to 21.2, which is a positive change, Hoapili said.
“ I’m very happy with that number,” he said.
He hopes that the younger airmen targeted by the new program will be the
least involved in alcohol related incidents and that more repeat offenders
appear on his newly honed tracking system. That would mean the message was
reaching the masses, and only those few people with real drinking problems
continued to get into trouble with the law.
Every year, the data will improve, and the commander said the effort can
be continually tailored to meet the current trends.
With new groups of airmen arriving on base every week, Hoapili knows the
education effort is never ending.
“ I’ve been fighting this my whole life. You can do something
about this. It’s just the right thing to do for our people.
Source: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle 8/16/04
