Edwards program wins DOD award Published Oct. 27, 2003 By Virginia Monroe Air Force Flight Test Center Public Affairs EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- The Drug Demand Reduction program here received the 2002 Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award on Oct. 27 at the Pentagon.The Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award is an annual award presented to one base within each branch of the armed forces."The award is given to the base that has the best programs established for drug and alcohol prevention and outreach," said Wayne Johnson, the base program manager. "This is the third consecutive year we've won it."The program works to discourage drug use and alcohol abuse through education awareness. One program initiative here is the Commander's Club Drug Tool Kit, which raises commanders' awareness on the increased usage of popular club drugs.Another initiative is the Leadership Substance Abuse Course, which provides midlevel and upper-level supervisors with training to address substance abuse problems within their organizations."The base commander's driving under the influence zero-tolerance campaign remains as one of the base's leading drug and alcohol prevention efforts," Johnson said.The program’s curriculum of squadron alcohol skills intervention and command efforts to reduce DUI violations resulted in a 75-percent reduction of DUIs, underage drinking and alcohol-related events this past year, Johnson said.Additionally, all newcomers to Edwards are required to attend an outreach briefing that addresses the drug and alcohol prevention, identification and treatment referral procedures.Outreach partnerships between the program and base and community agencies have also played a major role in the program's success, Johnson said.Working cooperatively with base organizations, program officials have initiated programs geared toward preventing substance abuse among base youth. Youth-related achievements in the past year included a student health fair and nonresidential camp where issues of drug and alcohol abuse prevention were addressed.Edwards is centrally located in the in a region of the United States considered "the methamphetamine capital," according to an Air Force Office of Special Investigation threat assessment.Base officials worked with others from the Kern County Drug and Alcohol Abuse office and the Los Angeles County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council. Together they targeted and implemented outreach programs in local high-risk communities."We are basically everywhere within the community working to prevent and reduce drug use," Johnson said.Because of its success at Edwards, the program models are being considered as a baseline template to be implemented throughout the Air Force, said Carol Thompson, the assistant secretary of the Air Force’s assistant deputy for health policy."Each base and drug environment is different, so the way individual bases incorporate the different components (of the Edwards' model) into their program may vary," Thompson said.The program here stands out because the prevention programs teach people ahead of time of the cons to drug and alcohol abuse instead of simply addressing problems after they occur, Thompson said."It's not just the drug testing, programs need prevention aspects and command support -- that's the big thing," Thompson said. "Commanders and supervisors also need to keep an eye out for problems and intervene before drugs and alcohol become a career-ending event."