Posted on Dec 15, 2015
What do you think about the Army drug testing policy?
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Has anyone else experienced a curiously non-random pattern to the selection of Soldiers to be tested during "random" drug screenings? I have spent 14 years in the guard/reserves and I can count on 1 hand the number of times I have not been "randomly selected". When I was in the guard, I once had a streak of 17 tests in a row where myself and the Chaplain were selected.
I don't mind being tested, but it makes me question the effectiveness of the program. You do a 10% selection test 10 times a year and claim that you have tested 100%. But what you actually wind up with is, out of a unit with 100 people, 8-10 people who get tested multiple times every year and then there are 60-70 people who might go 2-3 years without being tested.
Wouldn't it be more effective to just do a 100% test a couple of times a year instead of testing the same 8-10 people multiple times?
I don't mind being tested, but it makes me question the effectiveness of the program. You do a 10% selection test 10 times a year and claim that you have tested 100%. But what you actually wind up with is, out of a unit with 100 people, 8-10 people who get tested multiple times every year and then there are 60-70 people who might go 2-3 years without being tested.
Wouldn't it be more effective to just do a 100% test a couple of times a year instead of testing the same 8-10 people multiple times?
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 4
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Wild guess based on watching "random" vs 100% tests take place. (SACO is part of the S2 at BN level in USMC when I was in).
SACO - "We need 10 people for a piss test from each company"
Each Company CO - "Grab the first/last 10 names off the company roster. (who are here)"
Your name starts with B.
I'm not saying that's what happened... but I've seen people do with with dice (last digit of social). I've seen people get tested whenever they come back from leave just as a matter of policy. Every 60 days 100%. I've seen crazy "random" ideas to keep it "fair."
SACO - "We need 10 people for a piss test from each company"
Each Company CO - "Grab the first/last 10 names off the company roster. (who are here)"
Your name starts with B.
I'm not saying that's what happened... but I've seen people do with with dice (last digit of social). I've seen people get tested whenever they come back from leave just as a matter of policy. Every 60 days 100%. I've seen crazy "random" ideas to keep it "fair."
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That happens lots of places and I can tell you why. You are selected because they know that you will pass. If you have otherwise good people that you know smoke weed you don't want to lose them so you make sure that they never get tested.
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LTC (Join to see)
That is my opinion as well. It is a major pain in the ass if/when someone fails a drug test. So they test the people they know will pass.
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LTC (Join to see)
Consider, there are 100 Soldiers in a unit. you test 10%, ten times a year. 10% x 10 =100%, so it should be all good. However, if the same 7-8 people get selected each test, you are actually only testing 27-38 people each year. That means there are 62-73 people in the unit that go untested.
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The program used to generate names simply randomly selects from the overall list. I don't believe it factors in whether you were selected in a previous UA. I have personally seen a 1Sgt and company commander manually select names as a number of people were already on leave that were selected. It went a little something like this: "How many slots do we need to fill, and who is actually present to take the UA?" "These folks here" "Ok, add them and lets get this thing moving".
The military really needs to implement a better system that accounts for everything and ends up with 100% tested yearly.
The military really needs to implement a better system that accounts for everything and ends up with 100% tested yearly.
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LTC (Join to see)
Like I said, it just seems odd that the program would randomly select the same 8-10 names multiple months in a row. It's like shuffling a deck of cards, pulling out 5 cards at random and you get the Ace of spades, King of Hearts and 7 of clubs for 3 tries running.
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