Should Alcohol be served on deployments regardless of where the deployment is?

CW3 Kevin Storm — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:15:33 -0400

When I was in Iraq, I had to go down to Talil AFB. I saw the Italian Army was there and having worked with them for three years decided to go to their PX. I went over there and low and behold their PX was 80 percent alcohol. Here we were in a so called Muslim country, we were forbidden from having any but our allies could have what they wanted. So do you think this is something we should continue doing or should we work on our morale and keep the drinking on base?

Response by SGT Edward Thomas made Jul 13 at 2015 5:16 PM

SGT Edward Thomas — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:16:22 -0400

Moderation.

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Jul 13 at 2015 5:17 PM

SGM Matthew Quick — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:17:27 -0400

No...people will find a way to abuse it.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jul 13 at 2015 5:27 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:27:47 -0400

We have taken all the fun out of war. The Vikings had all the fun.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Jul 13 at 2015 5:29 PM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:29:04 -0400

CW3 Kevin Storm I'm going to be the bad guy here - It is what it is! Unfortunately I'm glad as a former Commander down range that we have GO1 in place. I gave up alcohol completely back in 2011 when my second wife crashed her motorcycle and ended up in Intensive Care for (10) days and 76 staples in her head later. By the way she was a confirmed alcoholic, so I guess I'm really against the alcohol thing altogether. When I was on active duty some soldiers stole the Brigade Commander's jeep on Fort Ord and went joy riding after a stand down in the field with beer, resulting in a completely destroyed jeep and all of us standing in our underwear getting checked scrapes and bruises. Then I left active duty and went into the National Guard and got chewed out by a Captain because I didn't have his beer on ice out on a filed exercise (I was shocked) as an NCO. I didn't mind having a drink when off duty just like any soldier, but I was glad the GO1 was in place and I hope it stays there. It's one less thing you have to worry about as a Commander. There are always going to be those soldiers that can't hold their beer or liquor and those that turn into the toughest guy on the planet, and those that want to do something crazy and stupid. Don’t' get me wrong the majority of our young men and women would do just fine, but like I said I think its good to have in place and keeps everyone focused for 12 months or 8 months (however long the boots are on the ground now). Many will disagree and say that I have some very good reasons for not wanting it, but that is just my opinion as a former leader. I've seen a lot of young soldiers admitted to rehab for alcohol abuse, as well as drugs.

Response by SPC James Burkett II made Jul 13 at 2015 5:45 PM

SPC James Burkett II — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 17:45:23 -0400

I feel we should keep things as they are. It is sad that our allies can't show the professional side even in a deployment situation. Where there nights I had wished I could have kicked back and drank a cold one... yes but would I have been ready for any mission that could have poped off at any moment?

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Jul 13 at 2015 6:02 PM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 18:02:22 -0400

people have there anyway. I knew a guy that have about 3 or 4 fifths of wild turkey. he busted 3 of them to redeploy back to the states

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 6:17 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 18:17:49 -0400

You should have seen the bar on Basra that only the PRT compound had. Civilian contractors and the PRT military folk (US military included) had at quite a bit of alcohol to choose from in that bar.

Response by Cpl Milton Davis made Jul 13 at 2015 6:56 PM

Cpl Milton Davis — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 18:56:31 -0400

Keep the drinking on base...we all need a beer or some intoning stronger every now & then...

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 6:58 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 18:58:40 -0400

Even away from the combat zone it seems that the majority of our safety mishaps, bad behavior, sexual assault, etc are alcohol related. I don't think we need anymore problems downrange than we already have... particularly when you have soldiers carrying around weapons and ammo.

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Jul 13 at 2015 7:17 PM

SGM Steve Wettstein — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 19:17:38 -0400

In a controlled environment I see no reason a beer or two would be a problem. People will say some will find a way to abuse it. Well, people already get it while they are deployed right now. So establish some controls and keep it safe.

Response by SSG Christopher Freeman made Jul 13 at 2015 7:20 PM

SSG Christopher Freeman — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 19:20:04 -0400

I say no because so few of us can act like adults

Response by CPO Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 7:51 PM

CPO Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 19:51:41 -0400

(Edited). Given the opportunity, men and women have demonstrated consistent failure to disappoint in OUR commission of foolish acts under the influence of alcohol. There are better times/places than (combat) deployments to indulge and to discover that someone in the unit is addicted to or abuses alcohol. Save it for the Holiday party and hope they get stopped by base police before they leave the gate.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 8:40 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 20:40:44 -0400

I won’t go as far as to say it hurts morale, but it hurts moral. I was deployed on a base with 200 Germans, 150 Italians, 200 French, Swiss and several other countries. Guess what, the 50 Americans couldn’t drink but EVERYone else could and did. Heck the French had a “shack” right beside my billet and I listened to them having fun every night. I’m not a huge drinker, but I like a beer after work, two at the most. It was ridiculous to the point of extreme that we were the <10% on the post that couldn’t have a beer.

Response by Sgt Michael Schmidlkofer made Jul 13 at 2015 10:15 PM

Sgt Michael Schmidlkofer — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 22:15:00 -0400

Always thought it was funny that U.S. Navy ships are dry except for the two beers you get every 45 days at sea; especially having seen the officers flock to foreign ships for social events where wine and other drinks were available, it's apparently no big deal except to us.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 13 at 2015 10:45 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 22:45:14 -0400

They sell condoms in the middle of the combat zone at the px. People do what they do. If an adult wishes to indulge in an adult beverage after work, indulge. The jailhouse is full of people who do bad things in combat zones alcohol had nothing to do with it. I am not advocating " apocalypse now" or anything, i just think personal responsibility is your responsibility,not mine. If you do stupid, you pay. Simple.

Response by 1LT William Clardy made Jul 13 at 2015 11:27 PM

1LT William Clardy — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 23:27:32 -0400

I seem to run contrary to quite a few folks in that I believe people will rise to expectations if you demonstrate a little trust and faith in their decency.

I realize that it's not directly comparable, but way back when I was enlisted, I indulged in fewer vices than most soldiers so I generally had cash readily at hand, and I invested it in my fellow soldiers by acting as my company's indigenous loan shark -- with a couple of twists. Number one, I let the soldiers assess their own exorbitant interest rates, based on how risky they felt loaning money to them really was. Second, I never chased anybody down to demand repayment -- and I never had any need to. The one time that a soldier got up to being a few hundred dollars down, the first sergeant sent word that the orderly room would not sign off on the soldier in question's clearance papers until I had been repaid in full. That was the closest I came to having to pester anybody to pay what they owed -- most seemed to appreciate being trusted and were careful to not be That Guy who messed up a good arrangement. After 5 years of never getting burned during some of the Army's darkest days in terms of all the normal measures for quality of the troops, that experience has definitely skewed my view in favor of trusting troops enough to first give them a chance to rise to expectations.

Response by SSgt Charles Edwards made Jul 13 at 2015 11:56 PM

SSgt Charles Edwards — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 23:56:39 -0400

From my time in the desert, I knew the current system was being abused. Ration cards being loaned out, bartender being chummy with certain people (especially those desert queens) all saw a few people consuming more than they were authorized. To my knowledge, this did not result in any kind of punishment because it was really discreet. However, I believe the mission rests on the clarity and sound judgment of the troops who are in place to get the job done. It's counterproductive to be under the influence and trying to to your job.

Response by MSG Giovani DeJesus made Jul 16 at 2015 3:06 AM

MSG Giovani DeJesus — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 03:06:23 -0400

I say no, I barely drink so it's not a problem for me. Some say that we should have alcohol in a controlled environment but the problem is and it's sad to say, some will find a way to abuse it and some do not know how to act when drinking. Abusing alcohol in general is a problem, now you have someone abusing it while deployed, in possession of a weapon and ammunition, definitely not a good environment for alcohol.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 7 at 2015 11:32 AM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 11:32:47 -0500

They have taken the fun out of war: no sex, alcohol, gambling, and burning villages down.