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A few months ago, I wrote about binge drinking in the military. I often comment about binge drinking as a college, but I do not frequently enough note that binge drinking pervades more than college campuses. The problem does not evaporate with a diploma, nor does it come upon matriculation as the military has recently become more aware. The Institute of Medicine released a report in September 2012 that noted that the Department of Defense should take appropriate measures to modernize its approach to alcohol abuse in the military. Charles P. O’Brian, chair of the panel that authored the report, noted that at the report’s writing, the Army only had one specialist to trained to treat addiction despite that, the report noted, “drunken soldiers” have been a problem since the Revolutionary War.
Since the report’s release, individual branches of the service have begun making efforts to modernize their approach. According to NBC, “The Marines, starting next year, will give random breathalyzer tests to Corps members; the Air Force and Army curbed some overnight liquor sales for U.S. military personnel in Germany; and American service members in Japan were barredfrom leaving their residences after consuming more than one adult beverage.” According to the report, 47% of active duty service members binge drank in 2008.
Gordon Jackson of the Florida Times-Union reports that military leaders support for Rep. Jack Kingston’s bill to lower the drinking age to 18 for enlisted service men and women consuming beer and wine in on-premise drinking establishments:
“Proposed legislation to allow service members under 21 to drink beer and wine at base restaurants and clubs has strong support among military leaders, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., said Friday.
But the military brass are hesitant to publicly express their opinion, said Kingston, who has introduced the bill that would lower the drinking age to 18 at domestic and foreign bases.
‘Unofficially, they agree with us,’ Kingston said. ‘Officially, they are reluctant to speak out.’”
Shelia McNeill, former president of the Navy League, also supported the bill, telling Jackson that enlisted men and women “should not have to sneak around” to drink.
Check out the rest of the story in the Times-Union and let us know what you think in the comments.