Let’s Get Smashed!
Admittedly, that is the first time I have used a “clickbait” title, but I urgently needed your attention.
In my first article, Learning to Lead with Love, I briefly mentioned that alcohol was the center of gravity for most misconduct in the military. Recently, I was made aware of several terrible incidents – inside and outside of the military – and I feel compelled to tell anyone who influences anybody’s life that this must change.
According to the National Health Interview Survey (2017), armed forces respondents reported drinking about 130 days per year between 2013 and 2017. Coming in second were miners that averaged 112 days in that same time frame. Although there were only 81 military respondents on the survey, this should be alarming for us as leaders because these averages give us a good indication of our current situation.
Further, DoD losses in productivity and medical treatment cost about $1.1 billion per year, with about 320,000 lost workdays per year and an estimated 34,400 arrests per year. Are you grasping this yet?!
Something that always bothered me was leaders, intentionally and unintentionally, glorified alcohol. I have seen this time and again when leaders get together for “Right Arm Night” or any other type of formal or informal event. We encourage our folks to go out and have fun because they deserve a hard-earned break. We want them to let their proverbial hair down. The problem is that most of our Soldiers believe that the only way to have fun at these events with our coworkers is to consume alcohol. Some leaders will say it explicitly, while others say it implicitly through their actions.
We have all seen units that have a bar in their footprint. They are usually there for leaders to gather and talk about non-work-related things, but what message does that send to our subordinates? You can tell me that “people are only supposed to have one or two,” but the problem is, they don’t. We know they don’t, and even if they did, they aren’t supposed to be driving after that. People will never say they are impaired after one drink because they don’t want to be considered a lightweight. Then, because they didn’t plan on having a designated driver, you find leaders doing exactly what they told their subordinates not to do.
I could go on about the toxic environment this can create with leaders and subordinates, but that’s not the focus. The focus is that alcohol is causing behavior leading to suicidal ideations, sexual assault, rape, broken homes, and loneliness. And just because you haven’t heard about it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I can assure you it is happening, and no one is speaking up. Why are we not taking this seriously yet? How much worse does it need to get?
So, the inevitable question is, how do we address it? You will not like me for this, but the Azimuth Check on ArmyFit is one way. I have learned that if you have your subordinates fill this out and let them be honest, you will find plenty of problems. Don’t make this one of those things that you blow off. Invest in this. It will give commanders an indication of the problematic behaviors within the formation and that data can be used to target plans that address the issues.
This is urgent! Please, act now. If you don’t know what to do, swallow your pride and ask someone. Lives and livelihoods are literally at stake.
~Rey