How do we talk about preventing DUI's? Published April 1, 2009 By Chief Master Sgt. Terry Carroll 305th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. -- As supervisors and leaders, we have difficult choices and paths to choose every day. Some of those choices impact the present, some are attempts to fix problems that occurred in the past and many impact our future. One is how we choose to address the consumption of alcohol. I'm not referring to whether or not we consume those beverages; I'm addressing your actions after you decide to consume them or, more importantly, the actions of those around you. A choice I'd like to discuss in detail is the importance of making smart choices when consuming alcohol of any type. This is an area where a little time spent preparing for the future can pay big dividends, although it may always be obvious. If you spend some time with your troops asking their plans at a party, you will get an idea of whether they have a plan or are potentially setting themselves up for failure. No one wants to see people fail, and this is your opportunity to influence the future. Some of the questions I ask involve their squadron drinking and driving policy. You'll usually get canned responses similar to "don't drink and drive" or "we follow the 0-0-1-3 program." It is during the follow-up questions when you may be surprised by the lack of a plan. When I asked one young person what he would do after drinking, the person's answer was to not drive home, and he would call his first sergeant if he needed a ride home. My next question was simple, "What's your first sergeant's phone number?" The reason I bring this up is the particular squadron had passed out cards with all the information available, but the person didn't have one in his wallet. After thinking about it for a little while, he said he didn't intend to drink so it didn't matter. This is when the golden opportunity to do some more planning for the future presents itself. That individual may not plan to drink but will probably end up around someone who is. This is your chance to candidly ask what they would do in that situation and give some concrete examples of how they could handle the situation. Some ideas you could bring up include having a contact number programmed in their cell phone or actually have their squadron's DUI prevention program card. There are many reasons to talk to people about DUI prevention -- starting with the fact that the behavior is illegal. You may save a life and you'll definitely help a career if you avoid the situation. As supervisors, you'll also avoid the inevitable talk with your troop about what they did wrong, explaining that behavior to your supervisor and squadron commander. You have the choice. You can take the time to explain alternatives to drinking and driving and emphasize the wingman concept, or you can explain why your troop is really a great person with a promising career to everyone in your chain of command and this is their only mistake.