Truth or Lie

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Permalink Reply by Molly the Snipe Mom on May 1, 2008 at 4:56pm

I have been watching the series Carrier this week .......and it appears when they are able to get off the ship during deployment that the biggest draw is the drinking. I loved what the Master Chief told them ......... why spend your time in an exotic land drinking jack daniel's, nothing is exotic about jack daniels's, you can get that in the corner store. LOL
My son is getting his first phase 3 liberty this weekend & is heading to Wisconsin. I can only pray that he is smart enough to keep his nose clean. None of that Shenanigen's going on.

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Permalink Reply by Jeanine #762 on May 1, 2008 at 6:32pm

Molly, When Michael had a phase 3 liberty weekend, I actually flew up to see him, Of course he had had the flu and wanted some mommy time. But all he wanted to do was sleep. But that was okay. I believe that snipes have the sense to stay away from that stuff rather than risk the wrath of their PO in schoolhouse.

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Permalink Reply by knq on May 22, 2008 at 7:09am

That would be False! This misconception comes from Hollywood. In every old or even some current movie you would always see the drunken sailor in bar fights or leaning on a hooker.
I served 15 years in the navy reserves, my husband is still in the navy, my father, aunt and uncle were in the navy and none of us are alcoholics.
I did do my fair share of drinking when I was young, as I am sure the others did as well. No more than in the college dorms.
The Navy is very strict on alcohol related incidents. three strikes and your out. The really do frown upon drunken sailors.
I hope that helped.
Denise

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Permalink Reply by Mary, Proud Mom of Nick on May 22, 2008 at 9:10am

Thank you for sharing this info with us knq, it has been questioned a few times now. It is good to have your experience level to speak out about this.

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Permalink Reply by Missy on May 22, 2008 at 10:08am

Certain situations the Navy is strict with alcohol related incidents. When my husband was an HM2 his CO got caught not once but twice driving while intoxicated. Since She was the CO no one did or said anything. What kind of message does that send??? The expect the kids to be good little angels but the higher ups can do whatever...I just think that's wrong.

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Permalink Reply by knq on May 22, 2008 at 2:40pm

I don't know how long ago your husband was in the navy but the policy is strictly enforced now days. CO or not. Also a DUI is an entirely different set of rules. They must be found guilty out in town before the command can do anything about it. That sometimes take a long time, it will eventually catch up to her. I stays in her record and she will not go up in rank.
Denise

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Permalink Reply by Jeanine #762 on May 22, 2008 at 6:03pm

Sailor Son says no one is above the testing. He was pulled in last week for a UA and as he was leaving the corpsman was telling the guy who just walked in how to fill the cup and that ADMIRAL replied, I know but no one is above the test. Alcohol or other drugs.

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Permalink Reply by Missy on May 22, 2008 at 8:43pm

My husband is Active Duty and this happened 3 yrs ago.

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Permalink Reply by knq on May 23, 2008 at 7:46am

My husband is active duty also. They recenty discharged an officer for three strikes. The dui thing does take time do to the court system. I beleive when a co gets in trouble they do not give the details of his/her punishment to the rest of the command. So they could have assumed nothing happened.
Denise

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Permalink Reply by Shelley on September 17, 2008 at 8:23pm

My daughter is in A school and I wondered about the drinking. She says that some people do go out and drink and come back pretty drunk. But, she says that the punishment is just not worth it. I have taught her to respect alcohol and that she should know her own limits. She is still underage and can't imbibe legally. I don't know what's available to her where she is, but according to her it's just more trouble than it's worth. The people that are drinking around her are getting into loads of trouble and she keeps repeating how it follows you on your record forever.
I believe she's seeing the ugly side of this habit and although I'm sure she'll be as human as the rest of us at some point. I'm glad she's taking this seriously now.

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Permalink Reply by HTsWife on October 27, 2008 at 11:00pm

the anti-alcohol push is really coming on, i can't tell you how many times i've seen posters in passing that say (not exactly) "you can be a sailor & not drink", they're all over the NTC side of the great lakes base. part of their military training goes over many things including drinking. they're also really pushing sailors to stop smoking too.
the consequences have gotten a lot harsher & every time i stepped onboard my husband's ship- it had a board on the quarterdeck that showed the number of days since the last DUI. the commands are being put under more & more pressure to ensure their sailors don't get out of hand involving alcohol.
there will ALWAYS be exceptions, no matter where you look, but the GENERAL push is to drink responsibly & safely, IF you drink.

the other problem that's being dealt with more recently is relating to depression. my husband was a fairly responsible drinker until he saw something that no one ever should, at that point, depression set in & he turned into a pretty heavy drinker. our military are looked upon as people that SHOULD be perfect 24/7 & that's not how life is. there's MUCH more awareness & prevention & intervention now to help deal with one's problems like this. but like all people, no one reads minds, so sometimes people slip thru the cracks b/c they don't speak up. if there's a problem, we all need to be aware, if your loved one sounds like they're having difficulties, if their patterns change drastically, etc don't hesitate to contact your ombudsmen. our loved ones are under pressure & especially when they're new to the changes, it takes time to get used to & it's the job of their chain of command to help support that & create great sailors.
many times it's the families that bring attention to their loved ones' problems (b/c after all, we know them best right?) & thru the ombudsmen, the command is made aware & steps can be taken, from drug/alcohol programs, to counseling, to speaking with the chaplains, to other changes.

but i can tell you, alcoholism is not tolerated. there are many programs that can help sailors get their control back. but like anywhere else, they need to be strong enough to stand up for themselves.

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Permalink Reply by Beverly Staton on December 3, 2008 at 11:47am

Below is information taken from a study conducted by the Navel Health Research Center. This info pertains to Submariners specifically. The link is

http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&...

Abstract : This study evaluated alcohol and drug abuse risks associated with U.S. Navy submarine duty by comparing hospitalization rates of submariners with surface-ship personnel for five occupational groups. Occupational groups included administrative/clerical, apprentice, blue collar, electronic/technical, and medical personnel. Occupational groups were compared between ship type using age-adjusted hospitalization rates for alcohol and drug abuse related diagnoses. For alcohol abuse, submarine personnel had significantly lower hospitalization rates than surface-ship personnel for each of the five occupational groups. Hospitalization rate for alcohol abuse across all occupational groups for submariners was less than one-half the rate for surface-ship personnel. For drug abuse hospitalizations, submarine personnel had a significantly lower rate in the blue collar occupations. Hospitalization rate for drug abuse across all occupational groups for submariners was about one-half the rate for surface-ship personnel. Reasons for lower alcohol and drug abuse among submariners may be stringent screening, higher levels of education, and severe penalties for substance abuse for submariners.

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