Alcohol abuse by GIs soars since '03
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
The rate of Army soldiers enrolled in treatment programs for alcohol
dependency or abuse has nearly doubled since 2003 — a sign of the
growing stress of repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan,
according to Army statistics and interviews.

Soldiers diagnosed by Army substance abuse counselors with alcoholism or
alcohol abuse, such as binge drinking, increased from 6.1 per 1,000
soldiers in 2003 to an estimated 11.4 as of March 31, according to the
data. The latest data cover the first six months of the fiscal year that
began in October.

"We're seeing a lot of alcohol consumption," Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the
Army's vice chief of staff, told top officers during a briefing on the
Army's growing number of suicides.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, expressed concern. "I'm sure there are many factors for
the rising numbers (of enrollments) ... but I can't believe the stress
our people are under after eight years of combat isn't taking a toll,"
he said.

Likewise, Marines who screen positive for drug or alcohol problems
increased 12% from 2005 to 2008, according to Marine Corps statistics.
In addition, there were 1,060 drunken-driving cases involving Marines
during the first seven months of fiscal 2009, which began in October,
compared with 1,430 cases in all of fiscal 2008.

In an interview last week, Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent said
alcohol abuse is an indication of the stress, particularly with the
ongoing cycle of combat deployments. "Alcohol can tie into a lot of
things, and we're just keeping a close eye on it," Kent said.

Mullen and Chiarelli said the U.S. needs to reduce the overall number of
deployed troops as planned to ease the strain.

Concerns about alcohol abuse led Chiarelli to issue a memo in May urging
commanders to treat and, where necessary under Army rules, punish
soldiers who test positive for substance abuse or fail blood-alcohol
tests. During a visit to six Army installations this year, Chiarelli
said, he found hundreds of cases where soldiers who failed those tests,
in some cases more than once, were not treated for the problem or
processed for possible discharge, as required by Army regulation.

Enrollments in drug abuse treatment programs have remained largely
unchanged in the Army during the war, rising from 3.7 per 1,000 in 2003
to an estimated 4.2 as of May.

The most common drug detected is marijuana, says Marsha Drain, deputy
director for policy for the Army Substance Abuse Program.

Chiarelli said top staff officers might not properly deal with the
problem because of a need to "keep their numbers up" for combat deployments.

Chiarelli said identifying and treating substance and alcohol abuse will
help improve the Army's mental health care and curb suicides, which
reached a record 142 cases in 2008. There have been 82 confirmed or
suspected suicides this year among active-duty, compared with 51 for the
same period in 2008.

Lt. Col. George Wright, an Army spokesman, said the good news is that
the alcohol statistics show more soldiers are seeking help.

But the Army statistics, based on enrollments in a drug and alcohol
counseling program, also may underestimate the scope of the problem,
since they are based on soldiers who are either referred for counseling
by a commander or who voluntarily enroll. A 2007 Pentagon study said
soldiers may refrain from seeking help because current Army rules
require that their commanders automatically be notified.