F.E. Warren 0-0-1-3 program teaches responsible drinking

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Lauren Sixbey
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs
F. E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. (AFPN) --  The 0-0-1-3 program here began one year ago as a reaction to a national health crisis. Binge drinking, underage drinking and driving under the influence had become all too common.

“(Alcohol) has affected every community every campus (and) pretty much every place that touches lives across the nation,” said Col. Evan Hoapili, 90th Space Wing commander here. “As a military, we represent the society we serve.”

For that reason, base officials, with the help of Wyoming first lady Nancy Freudenthal and a nonprofit organization called Facing Alcohol Concerns Through Education, created the program, which is designed to increase awareness of responsible drinking.

“Every single quarter since we’ve implemented this program we’ve seen an increase in reduction of alcohol-related incidents,” Colonel Hoapili said.

The average age for alcohol-related offenders has risen from 19 in 2003 to 22 in 2004. Also, the average blood-alcohol content has declined in each of the offenders, officials said.

The program is based on science and physiology. The first “0” stands for zero drinks for those younger than 21. The second “0” stands for zero DUI offenses. The “1” stands for one drink per hour to give the liver enough time to process the alcohol. The “3” stands for a maximum of three drinks per night to keep the body’s blood-alcohol content below 0.05 percent.

The purposes of the program are threefold, Colonel Hoapili said. First, it reminds people that it is not prohibition. Second, it keeps most people under the legal threshold of a blood-alcohol content of 0.05 percent. Third, it allows people to keep their behavior at a personally responsible level.

To get the program’s message out to the troops, base officials made more than 600 posters and distributed them throughout the base’s 12,000-square-mile missile complex.

Four phases have debuted since the program’s inception. Themes were “Bad Call,” “Beer Man,” “There’s More to Life” and “It’s About Drinking Responsibly.”

The themes have taken different approaches to the program, from showing the consequences of a DUI offense, to poking fun at the common criticisms and misperceptions, to showing more productive activities, officials said.

Those productive activities, officials said, provide Airmen something of value in exchange for drinking, including late night basketball, late night dances, late night pool parties and a paint ball course.

Young Airmen run Dorm Escape in the First Term Airmen’s Center. It is open five nights a week and provides video games, movies on big screen televisions, pool, foosball and other recreational activities.

Airmen here have embraced the program.

“(If you) stick to the rules, you will stay out of trouble,” said Airman 1st Class Dwane Samuel, of the 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

“People like to poke fun at the 0-0-1-3 program, but you can’t go into a bar and not think about it,” said Airman 1st Class Tessa Cubbon, of the 90th Space Wing. “Airmen are changing the way they have fun.”

“It’s worthwhile because it takes care of our most precious resource -- our people,” Colonel Hoapili said. “This program keeps our people safe.”