Corps introduce alcohol intervention program

Corps introduces alcohol intervention program

By Dan Lamothe - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Oct 8, 2012 8:42:43 EDT

The Marine Corps will crack down on reckless drinking by requiring service members cited for drunken driving and other drinking-related incidents to participate in a new program focused on “evidence-based intervention,” the service announced.

The Prime for Life program was outlined briefly in Marine administrative message 527/12, released Sept. 21. It will focus on early intervention, and include interactive programs that force Marines to review facts about high-risk drinking.

The program “equips Marines with the ability to assess high-risk behaviors and influence changes in attitudes and beliefs,” according to the MARADMIN, signed by Brig. Gen. Robert Hedelund, director of the Marine and Family Programs Division of Manpower and Reserve Affairs, in Quantico, Va.
“We will equip our Marines with effective tools to promote readiness within our ranks. Alcohol education affords Marines involved in alcohol-related incidents an opportunity to effectively recognize and mitigate high-risk actions,” the message said.

Marines who are cited for a DUI/DWI receive early intervention services now, but the MARADMIN establishes Prime for Life as the new standard, said Linda Love, substance abuse section head in the Marine and Family Programs Division, Marine Corps Headquarters.

She said this new protocol is evidence-based — tied to the latest social science available that points toward reducing subsequent substance abuse-related incidents — and provides a standardized approach with a curriculum.

“Substance abuse prevention staff across the Marine Corps have received training on how to implement this early intervention tool,” she said. “Prior to this early intervention tool, we had a nonstandardized approach that was not supported by evidence-based practices.”
Prime for Life is just one of an array of new alcohol-related initiatives that will be implemented this year.

Also in the pipeline is an awareness campaign focused on the risks associated with alcohol abuse and misuse, training efforts and the development of educational resources related to risk-taking behaviors, Love said.

“The Alcohol Abuse Prevention Campaign was reviewed by the Executive Force Preservation Board and subsequently forwarded to the General Officer Symposium,” Love said, adding that results from the symposium are pending.

Top Marine officials have cited the role alcohol plays in a variety of societal problems plaguing the Corps. They include spousal abuse, suicide and an embarrassing sexual assault problem that Commandant Gen. Jim Amos has called a “black mark” on the service’s reputation.

There were more than 300 reported sexual assaults in the Corps in 2011, according to a service report released in July. It’s widely held that such crimes are underreported, however.
In a July interview, Hedelund agreed that the road ahead will be difficult.
“I think we’re getting there with senior leadership, and we’re certainly getting there with commanders who understand that drinking responsibly doesn’t mean the same thing to an O-6 as it does to a 21-year-old,” he said.