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Operation Trident to ‘sweep’ out base drug users

  • Published
  • By Airman Rebekah Phy
  • McGuire Public Affairs
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  "Operation Trident" is the three-pronged culmination of the overall efforts of drug testing and deterrence here. The program now includes unit sweeps, random testing, dormitory sweeps and 24-hour gate checks to better deter the use of illicit substances.

The Can Do wing, along with the McGuire Drug Demand Reduction Program manager, Titus Welcome, strive to continuously improving the drug abuse prevention and deterrent posture for the base.

The mission of the Air Force Drug Testing Program, according to AFI 44-120, is to, "Deter the use and abuse of controlled/illegal substances through a comprehensive program of education, prevention and deterrence. Provide scientifically accurate results that are forensically defensible."

Around 2001, there was a nationwide increase in the use of methamphetamines and Ecstasy, Mr. Welcome said. With the drugs' short retention time in the body, the wing instituted its unannounced gate testing program as a solution to help deter Airmen from ingesting these quickly-expelled substances.

The first prong, and primary source of drug testing, is random testing. This is strictly for individuals and involves sending notification of the testing to "trusted agents," who are assigned by the commander at each unit. They are responsible for relaying the message to the individuals selected. The randomly selected are provided with an order from their commander, and are directed to report to the test site within two hours of notification.

The second prong to the trident is unannounced testing. This is still random testing, which is dictated by the recommendation of the drug demand reduction program manager with oversight from the 305th Air Mobility Wing commander, Col. Rick Martin.

This testing, for example, can involve any building on base, which is randomly selected, along with the date, time and method of determining which people will be tested (i.e. Monday, 2-5 p.m., every third person). Random gate checks are also included in unannounced testing and can be conducted at any time.

The third prong under Operation Trident is unit sweeps. These are for entire units, and are dictated by the unit commander and the 305th AMW commander.

The 305th AMW staff has recently taken the lead in unit drug testing sweeps.
"The wing staff has taken it upon themselves to conduct a sweep in an effort to encourage other commanders to utilize sweeps as a tool to deter the use of illicit substances," said Mr. Welcome.

The wing continues to take the use of illicit substances very seriously, and the legal office becomes involved when a positive specimen is detected.

"Legal is one of the key players in drug testing, first to make sure everything we do is legal," said Mr. Welcome. "With the collection and detection of positive specimens - legal handles the prosecution."

Mr. Welcome said illegal drug users who depend upon short retention times of drugs like Ecstasy to avoid detection by routine drug testing will be deterred by the 305th AMW commander's implementation of Operation Trident unannounced drug testing program.