-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! 001595. DOD winning 30-year war against drugs in the ranks by Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The incidence of service members using illegal drugs is at a 20-year low, evidence that the Department of Defense is winning the war against drug abuse in its ranks -- a conflict that began during the Vietnam War. Ana Maria Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug enforcement policy and support, said drug use by DOD personnel is down 90 percent compared to two decades ago. Just 2.6 percent of all service members reported drug use within the 30 days preceding their response to a 1998 survey, she said. More than 27 percent of respondents in a 1980 survey said they used illegal drugs in the preceding 30 days, she noted. "Overall, the use of illegal drugs by service members is down. Drug use has decreased every year since we started monitoring it in 1980," Salazar said. She pointed to the effectiveness of DOD's "zero tolerance" policy toward drug use, pre-employment and random drug testing, and substance abuse education programs. Salazar also cited DOD's participation in such drug awareness information campaigns as national Red Ribbon Week -- Oct. 23-31 this year. "Drug use is incompatible with military service," she said. "Not tolerating drug use is the cornerstone of our deterrence program. "Our system identifies users and ensures that they are punished. This approach deters drug use by other service members and promotes readiness." Salazar said drug use "has always been a national security concern" that affects both the Defense Department and civilian society. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, illegal drugs cost the national economy $110 billion in expenses and lost revenue in 1995, she said. "Drug use by service members threatens their readiness to defend our nation," she said. "Drug use by society in general damages our ability as a nation to have a strong economy with citizens who are focused on healthy lifestyles. This, in itself, threatens security." Almost a third of service members weren't living drug-free lifestyles 20 years ago, but drug use had become a problem for the U.S. military much earlier, Salazar said. In 1970, increasing numbers of service members in Vietnam were found to be using heroin and other illegal drugs. This prompted President Richard Nixon in 1971 to direct the secretary of defense to initiate a program of drug prevention, identification of abusers and treatment. Throughout "the post-Vietnam era" of the 1970s and early 1980s, many young Americans -- military and civilian -- experimented with illegal drugs like marijuana, LSD and cocaine. DOD had been conducting drug tests on service members since 1971, in large part to identify and treat heroin addicts who'd picked up the habit in Southeast Asia, Salazar said. Ten years later, service members were found to be using more and different types of illegal drugs. Drug use in the military was prevalent, with the 1980 military survey identifying disturbing drug abuse problems among both enlisted members and junior officers, Salazar said. "At that time, units with as many as one-third of their members using drugs were unprepared for combat," she said. The tripwire was an explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on May 26, 1981. The ship suffered 14 people dead, 48 injured and $150 million in property losses, including seven aircraft destroyed and 11 damaged. DOD adopted its "zero tolerance" drug policy in 1982 after investigators indicated Nimitz crewmen's drug use possibly contributed to the disaster. "Drug users are more prone to have accidents, to use poor judgment and more likely to injure themselves and others ... the disaster aboard the Nimitz is a grim reminder of this fact," Salazar said. "As a group, drug users have demonstrated that they do not maintain the unit morale necessary to carry out the dangerous duties we demand of military personnel." As part of its drug deterrence efforts, "DOD must encourage its members to become active in drug education and community support," Salazar said. Each of the services manages programs that distribute information on the dangers of drug use, she said. "Among the most effective educational tools are local community programs that focus on children and families," she said. The annual Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award, for example, recognizes outstanding service-level drug awareness programs. Many of these programs, Salazar said, feature service members interacting with military and civilian communities as educators and youth role models. DOD officials are also alert for any new patterns in youth drug use, such as the illegal "designer drug" Ecstacy. Service members' use of Ecstasy, although small, increased from a prevalence of 0.004 percent in fiscal 1998 to 0.019 in 1999, Salazar said. "Civilian police agencies tell us in 1999 elements of organized crime dramatically increased the amount of Ecstasy sold on the streets," she said. "Large numbers of young people across the nation began to use this dangerous drug, which can cause brain damage, and some of them died as a result." DOD anticipated Ecstasy might be an emerging drug and mandated testing in 1997, Salazar said, noting "through testing we've deterred many young people from using the drug." This year, she added, DOD plans to use a more sensitive drug test that will identify more Ecstasy users. Salazar credits DOD's drug urinalysis program as being "one of our most effective programs" in fighting the war against drugs in the ranks. "When any drug users are identified, appropriate punitive action is taken, depending on the program, and can range from mandatory rehabilitation to courts-martial," she said. "The numbers speak for themselves in measuring the effectiveness of this program." 001594. Cooperation replaces conflict in the former Soviet Union by Staff Sgt. William J. Seabrook Jr. 16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla (AFPN) -- A little more than 10 years ago, serving in a country deep behind the former Soviet Union's Iron Curtain was unthinkable. Today, however, it is! The U.S. European Command's Joint Contact Team Program now deploys military liaison teams to former Soviet satellite states participating in the program. "We're here to basically show (these countries) how the U.S. military does business," said Senior Master Sgt. Terry Porch from the 16th Civil Engineer Squadron here, who is temporarily assigned to a four-person JCTP in the Baltic state of Estonia. There are currently 16 area countries in this program. The Estonian liaison team is tasked with assisting Estonian defense forces to evolve smoothly along with the country's economic and democratic growth. Each outreach team consists of three officers and a senior enlisted person to handle the administrative side of things. "We promote things such as civilian control of armed forces, a de-politicized military, respect for human rights and the rule of law and cooperation between regional and U.S. armed forces," Porch said. "I'm a civil engineer by trade, but I'm actually handling the money we spend over here. I think this assignment is a great opportunity for any senior NCO who's looking to do something completely different for a while." The deployment is on a volunteer basis and usually lasts about six months. "I like working in the small team environment because I really feel like I'm making a substantial contribution to the mission," Porch said. Another interesting aspect of the program is that each participating country partners with a U.S. National Guard unit, the sergeant said. Estonia's partner is the Maryland Air National Guard. Since the Estonian forces face many of the same missions as the Maryland ANG such as coastal search and rescue operations, civil/military cooperation and hazardous material response, it allows many joint training opportunities. "The Maryland Air National Guard provides the liaison team with its leader and supports many of the training events we conduct," Porch said. "They also work together in community outreach and cooperation programs such as sharing business and education ideas." This summer an aircrew from the Maryland ANG spent two weeks working with the Estonian Air Force on aircraft safety maneuvers and crash recovery procedures. Porch's team presents U.S. military procedures to the Estonian military by giving presentations, showing field manuals and conducting various training activities. "Some of the training we've conducted includes crisis management response exercises, civil/military cooperation and officer/NCO professional development courses," Porch said. Within the JCTP, Estonia is considered one of the best assignments because of its natural beauty, interesting people and rich culture, Porch said. "Last week we ate lunch in a building that dated back to the 1400s," he said. Also, there are signs of the former Soviet military throughout in the country, Porch said. "Mari Air Base is the one working air base in the country and the Soviets used to fly fighter aircraft out of it," he said. "We were traveling near this air base recently and we found an old graveyard where they buried pilots who had died flying these aircraft. The tombstones were made from the tail fins of the aircraft. It was very strange to think that a little more than a decade ago our enemies were working, living and dying in this very land where we're now spreading the seeds of democracy." 001596. Air Force provides flood relief to Vietnam by Master Sgt. Darla J. Ernst Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) -- A C-130 Hercules crew from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, is providing relief supplies to victims of massive flooding in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. The 11-person crew from the 517th Airlift Squadron delivered 87 cartons of plastic sheeting to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Oct. 17, enough to shelter 4,000 people. When they arrived in Vietnam for the delivery, they were greeted by teenagers from the Vietnamese Red Cross, who adorned them with flower bouquets and held up thank you banners. "It's a good feeling to have the means to reach out and help these people in need and be a direct part in providing aid," said Capt Mike Miller, aircraft commander. The Alaska C-130 crew was on a routine 30-day rotation to Yokota Air Base, Japan when they received word of their part in the humanitarian mission. The crew flew to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to pick up the cartons of plastic sheeting. After delivering those supplies, they flew to Manila, Philippines, to pick up water purifiers. They are scheduled to deliver those supplies to Ho Chi Minh City Oct 20. According to Vietnamese disaster relief officials, 370 people have been killed in the worst flooding to hit the Mekong River in 40 years. Two hundred sixty five of those killed were children, officials said. More than 48,000 families in the Mekong Delta have lost their homes in this season's floods. 001597. Air Force International Health Specialists to provide common thread in global medicine by Leigh Anne Redovian Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs BROOKS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- The Air Force's first cadre of International Health Specialists gathered at Brooks Air Force Base, Texas, Oct. 10-13, to take their first steps toward developing regionally focused and clinically competent military medical resources worldwide. "You are the pace setters in international medicine" said the Air Force's surgeon general, Lt. Gen. Paul K. Carlton, Jr., when he addressed the group Oct. 12 at the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine here. "This is the most exciting personnel program the Air Force Medical Service has on the horizon and you are at the pointy end of the spear." Twenty IHS team members and staff liaison officers were chosen from a pool of more than 80 applicants seeking to be a part of the new program, said Col. Jane Ward, the program's director. An additional 60 medical professionals attended the orientation course as partners in various positions throughout the AFMS. An additional 20 mission specialists across the AFMS who have earned special experience identifiers based on language capabilities and regional medical experience will be eligible for future IHS team member or staff positions, Ward said. So far, prototype IHS teams have deployed to more than 25 countries around the world, providing humanitarian and civic assistance, educational training opportunities, and subject matter exchange visits, as well as supporting real-world contingencies. Teams will continue to support health care ranging from basic primary care to subspecialty care. In addition teams will provide dental and public health care across all area-of-responsibility requirements. Carlton told IHS members the missions of the AFMS must be relevant to the needs of the United States and must be reasonable in cost to the American taxpayer. He reminded the group that in the 40 years before the Cold War ended, the United States was involved in 10 foreign contingency operations. Since the Cold War ended in 1989, the country's involvement in contingency operations has expanded to more than 40 worldwide. The Air Force has become more and more involved in other-than-combat areas, and that creates the need for international medical experts, the general said. "We have become a global society facing many of the same medical challenges," Carlton said. "In this society, medicine provides the common thread that can transcend politics." Carlton views the IHS program as an instrument of international policy, and he is giving everyone working in the AFMS a chance to contribute. The initiative is a Total Force concept with active duty, Reserve and Guard personnel, officer and enlisted, serving on the new IHS teams. "The IHS program is rank neutral and corps neutral," Carlton said. The new program also supports the Air Force chief of staff's language initiative that calls for 10 percent of Air Force officers to be proficient in a second strategic language by 2005. Under the IHS program, officers and enlisted will have the opportunity to receive foreign language training, frequently taking part in Language and Area Studies Immersion, or LASI, programs, run by the Air Force Foreign Area Officer office. In addition to learning a second language, team members will gain real-world experience in dealing with the health conditions and challenges facing other countries. "You will see and treat diseases that you have only read about in text books," the surgeon general told the IHS group. Equipped to be international medical experts, IHS team members will carry out Air Force medical readiness in the new millennium. The teams are designed to facilitate the medical readiness triad of shaping the world environment via humanitarian and civic assistance missions, responding to disasters worldwide, and preparing for Air Force war-winning operations. IHS selectee Lt. Col. Jim Fike, an AFMS physician assigned to the 86th Medical Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, has been a part of eight humanitarian missions to Africa and is looking forward to traveling even more with his new IHS team. "It's not about simply working in a foreign country," Fike said. "It's working along side that country's doctors and nurses and building relationships with them that will eventually lead to improvements in medical care." Fike also said that working in a foreign nation is a great way to realize that even though resources may be limited, their medical teams have the same professional values as teams in the United States. Eventually, IHS professionals will be assigned to Unified Commands. The initial teams and staff positions are at the Air Staff, schoolhouses and in key planning positions such as liaison officers on the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard surgeon general staffs. The first two IHS teams, supporting U.S. European Command and U.S. Southern Command will co-locate with the 86 Medical Group and with the 59 Medical Wing at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, Texas, so that team members will maintain their clinical skills part-time and will be multi-functional Air Force medical professionals. While IHS personnel will focus on regional medical threats, they are expected to maintain competency in their primary Air Force specialty. The Air Force Surgeon General's long term vision for the new initiative is a Triservice program providing the service chiefs with a versatile tool to support the theater commander in chiefs. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey... 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