Lieutenant Colonel (Chaplain)
Peter Baktis at "He Brews Cafe,"
Camp Liberty, Iraq. Click the photo
to read "Coffee with the MP Brigade
at 'He Brews' Cafe."

The author with Iraqi General Ali Adnan (center) and US Army Colonel John Bogdon (right). Click the photo to read "Building Bridges to the Iraqi Police."

Interpreters assisting US forces in Iraq must often conceal their identities. Click the photo for the article "Who is that Masked Man?"

The Dry Army

During my embed time in Iraq I was struck by the news that under provisions of General Order Number 1, issued by the commander, alcoholic beverages are entirely forbidden. The order also lists pornography, sexual harassment, adultery, and other behavior as proscribed activities. Nonetheless, the complete ban on alcohol struck me as odd. Especially since some Iraqis drink alcohol.

If “Muslim cultural sensitivities” were to be cited as reason for the ban, then the order made more sense in strict societies like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait than in Iraq. But there it stands. Digging into reasons for the no alcohol rule, the roots seem to derive from recent U.S. military history rather than anything Islamic.

Placing the blame on the Army may seem odd to the old-timers, certainly anyone who served prior to the late 1980s when dime night at the NCO club and happy hour at the officer’s club were regular occurrences. Sure, there was abuse. I frequently tell people that the biggest drug problem I had was with alcohol. An alcohol addicted supply sergeant selling equipment out of my supply room, a drunken senior NCO endangering soldiers’ lives on the rappelling tower, and an officer trying to run a combat operation while in the bag.

That these were serious issues is a fact. That they were the exception rather than the norm is also true. So if the argument is that we are proscribing alcohol use in order to prevent serious incidents, one must ask the logical question: is it working?

According to most commanders with whom I spoke, the answer is no. alcohol violations are common. Most of the time Iraqis – interpreters, laborers, staff – will bring booze onto the base at the request of a particular soldier. Occasionally some will be smuggled in through mail or hand luggage. More infrequently home-made booze is uncovered. In a purely informal survey it appears that the people who violate the GO #1 regulations now are probably the same ones who abuse alcohol when they are assigned to other places. So is a blanket regulation prohibiting alcohol use really the best answer? Let’s look at a little background.

“When did we become a teetotaling army?” I was frequently asked. That question called for some reflection. Throughout most of my time in the Army, alcohol consumption was accepted if not glamorized. The image of the rough, tough, hard-drinking Airborne-Ranger trooper was firmly implanted in Army legend. “If you can’t drink, fight, and love all night and be Airborne the next day, then turn in your jump wings,” was a familiar saying.
The club system encouraged hard partying with dirt-cheap drinks and frequent happy hours. Tolerance of alcohol-related issues contributed to the problem.

For example, though I recommended that the supply sergeant who had stolen thousands of dollars from my unit be at a minimum barred from reenlistment and sent to rehab, he was merely assigned without prejudice to another unit. In those days driving under the influence violations were common but serious punishment was rare. In short, alcohol abuse was treated as a broad joke with mild repercussions at worse.

Perhaps the pendulum had swung too far to the laxity and complacence side. It must have seemed that way to General John Wickham. I worked for and became friends with General Wickham (to the extent that a major and a four-star general can be friends) while I served in Korea. Wickham was commander in chief of all U.S. and United Nations forces in South Korea. It was clear from the time, watching him crack down systematically on what he considered alcohol glamorization activities, that he was moving to a stricter program.

For starters, he was extremely tough on DUI. A single violation became a career-ender for officers and NCOs caught drunk behind the wheel. Happy hours and unit parties that pushed the envelope too far, in his estimation, were cancelled. Even “Jody cadences” that the troops sang while running were cleansed of alcoholic references.

Following his tour of duty in Korea, around 1985, General Wickham became Chief of Staff of the Army, the senior officer in charge. He brought with him to Washington his alcohol deglamorization programs and institutionalized them throughout the Army. Some of these reforms were picked up and implemented by other services.

Concomitantly with this internal Army activity were a series of incidents that encouraged military leaders to take alcohol off the table. The notorious Tailhook party in Las Vegas in which drunken officers (male and female) displayed to say the least poor judgment, drew national, highly critical media attention. So too have series of stories pointing out increased alcoholism and drug use among soldiers returning from combat pointed a damning finger at alcohol.

Add all of these factors together – and more not covered here – and we now see the the pendulum has swung, at least in my opinion, too far to the side banning all alcohol consumption. As one of the NCOs said to me while I was in Iraq, “Sir, why can’t we just have a couple of beers in the evening? What’s wrong with that? Just a couple of beers.”

It is easy to agree with him. For the soldiers in Iraq there is precious little to occupy their free time, and not much to do to ameliorate stress. It is hard for them to unwind.

Personally I began to wonder how much time an individual could spend in the gym. There are places that unit chaplains set up – like the “HE” Brews Cafe noted here, and like Joe’s Cafe, that offer places for soldiers to get books, read, listen to music, watch DVDs, play ping-pong, and the like. Those are all great. Really, they are. But are they sufficient to the need? I wonder.

Consequently, it seems entirely appropriate for responsible grown-ups to be able to have a drink of alcohol if they choose to do so. After all, we hold these soldiers responsible for daily life-and-death decisions and are quick to second-guess them when we think they made the wrong choice. Can we not trust them enough to have, say, two beers a day or so? And if they make poor decisions, if they drink to excess or misbehave, we can then treat them appropriately. If they handle themselves properly then it seems that this is a part of acting like an adult.

No one wants to turn an army at war into Bacchanalia. Nevertheless, it seems completely acceptable and reasonable to allow the soldiers to exercise responsibility and maturity, rewarding them for appropriate behavior and punishing them when they make mistakes. Isn’t that the way we live our civilian lives? Can we reasonably expect them to do less? I think this policy ought to be modified.

Bad Air - Cigars at FOB Rustamiyah Colonel John Bogdon has a few thoughts on why the air is so bad around FOB Rustamiyah, and it "ain't" the cigars.	The Face of War: Women in Combat Though it may still be controversial, Military Police women are potentially engaged in the fight every time a convoy rolls outside the wire. Hear the stories of several MPs in Iraq.	Who is That Masked Man? Despite their intimidating appearance, Interpreters are unarmed and rely completely on soldiers to protect them.
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