USNA - Breathalyzer tests deter alcohol abuse among Mids

[Luigi59]

Mids whose blood alcohol content exceeds .08 percent are “flagged for intervention from their chain of command.” That could mean anything from substance abuse treatment to disciplinary action, according to academy policy.

Over the past two years, mids have been subjected to Breathalyzer sweeps designed to detect and deter alcohol abuse, a dragnet typically administered on Friday and Saturday evenings for maximum effect, documents show.

These sweeps, as well as targeted tests after misconduct, are a central weapon in the academy’s successful campaign to drive down alcohol abuse and serve as a model for the fleetwide Breathalyzer tests set for adoption this year. As with the fleet rollout, officials stress that the tests are preventative, not punitive. But at Annapolis, whether or not a mid gets in trouble for failing a breath test is largely up to officials’ discretion.

The academy’s gains have been substantial. The number of “major conduct” offenses, the most serious category of misconduct, has fallen from approximately 400 in the 2010-2011 school year to roughly 155 in the school year that finished in May, a 61 percent drop, according to school figures. Similarly, violations of the honor concept — such as plagiarism, lying, cheating or stealing — have slipped from roughly 190 to 160 over the same period.

When it comes to Breathalyzer tests, mids try their best to evade them, one senior said, especially those who are underage. Methods include texting classmates back on campus to find out if Breathalyzer tests are taking place.

Excellent idea.

 

[LineInTheSand]

With the kind of drinking that occurs are most service academies, are they willing to put large portions of classes into treatment? Of course, we're often talking binge drinking.

 

[Hurricane12]

Bill Ferris, an Annapolis defense attorney and 1970 grad who has represented mids for nearly five decades, largely agreed with the alcohol policy. He was skeptical of only one aspect — that these tests were educational.

“I don’t believe for a minute that this is educational in the sense that, if you’ve got a high blood alcohol on a random test, it wouldn’t be considered to be disciplinary,” Ferris said after reviewing the policy.

Yup.

Color me skeptical, to say the least.


Edited to add:

I guess I just kind of wonder about making this sort of thing official and monitored by the administration. The .08 BAC part made me laugh out loud: if they hauled in every mid who blew over a .08 on a Friday night coming back from DTA for alcohol counselling, they'd have to hold the sessions in Alumni Hall. A .08 BAC makes a person ineligible to drive a car, not walk back to their rack. I mean, for me, a .08 is around 3 drinks. A night out in DTA was decidedly not around 3 drinks, and I'm far from an alcoholic.

Also, most mids actually have a decent amount of common sense and, more importantly, police each other. There's the occaisional incident, but most mids are responsible enough to:
-not drive after drinking
-not hop the wall/commit other conduct offense after drinking
-come back and go direct to the rack, i.e., not go mess with plebes, hang out in the hall, be loud, or other stupid crap

And, when they aren't, it's usually "handled" and corrected...without using the conduct system. If the behavior gets worse, then, sure, sometimes kicking it up to the administration works. There are people in the Brigade who abuse alcohol and consequently make bad decisions, I'm just leery about cutting out the informal system and going straight to the conduct system and officer/SEL chain of command.

It also just shows to me that USNA (and, from what it sounds like, Big Navy/USMC) have decided to keep sending weird mixed signals about alcohol usage.

 

[raimius]

Glad I'm not a mid!

I've heard too many cases of "Cadet Y did something stupid, and had 2 drinks at dinner. ALCOHOL HIT!" Didn't matter if the situation was a result of or even significantly related to the effects of alcohol...or at least that was the appearance and general impression.