Airman steps in when patrons have enough to drink

  • Published
  • By Claire Dattilo
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) --  Staff Sgt. Brian Miller, a bartender at the sports bar J.R. Rockers here, will not hesitate to take keys from patrons he thinks have had too much to drink.

Sergeant Miller is assigned to the 2nd Airlift Squadron and has been bartending for six years.

In Sergeant Miller’s bartending tenure, he said there have been 15 incidents where he thought a patron was too intoxicated to drive. He has done everything from slipping an Airmen Against Drunk Driving key chain in with the patron’s tab, encouraging someone to find a ride home with a sober friend to driving people home himself.

His dedication to his patrons’ welfare stems from an accident that happened when he was in high school. Seven of his friends piled into a Ford Pinto with an underage driver who had been drinking. The car crashed, and one of Sergeant Miller’s friends died.

When he became a bartender in 1995, he knew he would have to be responsible for his customer’s enjoyment and safety, and help prevent future accidents.

“I don’t want to be all my customers’ designated drivers,” he said, “but I will step in if I feel I need to, or I will call those great volunteers from AADD.”

He praises the AADD for their expediency and professionalism.

“All I do is call them, and about 15 to 30 minutes later they come in and pick (patrons) up,” he said.

The group is an organization offering Airmen free and anonymous rides Friday through Monday, 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.

“I been involved with squadron programs at other bases, but I have never seen a base program,” Sergeant Miller said. “They are great.”

Recently, Sergeant Miller did not have the luxury of using AADD to keep someone from driving home drunk. The sergeant was closing up at the bar and he and his wife, Andrea, who was working with him, asked everyone if they had a ride home. All seemed to have a plan.

As the couple locked up and walked to their car, they recognized two men from the bar getting into a sports car. They said they knew that they could not let the men drive home, so they pulled up next to them and offered a ride. The driver put the sports car into reverse and almost hit the Millers. Sergeant Miller got out and convinced the two men to leave their car and let him take them home. After some debate, the men agreed, and he drove them home.

Sergeant Miller said most people come to their senses when questioned about their sobriety; however, sometimes intoxicated people will get “Superman Syndrome,” he said. “Ten feet tall and bullet proof.”

Once people go down the list of possibilities -- hurting themselves, someone else, losing their license or their careers -- they seem to realize that driving is the wrong thing to do, he said.

Sergeant Miller is quick to shift any praise away from himself and credits moral responsibility as the reason for his actions.

“I have an obligation to protect innocent people from any harm my customer might cause before he or she sobers up,” he said. “A little effort on my part can make a difference.”