Nannyism: It’s for the Military, too
So if the military trusts you with some of the most deadly and destructive weapons known to man, the logical thought would be that they would also trust you to handle yourself around alcohol, right?
“For all other 2ID Soldiers who choose to consume alcohol, they must do so responsibly at all times. Specifically, they will moderate their alcohol consumption and not consume alcohol to the extent that their blood alcohol content (BAC) is above .10.”
Yes, you heard correctly. The Army’s 2nd Infantry Division (responsible for most of the U.S. Army personnel in South Korea) has mandated that no one under its command will have a BAC above .10%. Ever.
What is the reason given for this drastic action?
“All 2ID Soldiers must be in a high state of readiness and must be able to respond immediately and decisively in order to perform their armistice and wartime fighting mission. Irresponsible alcohol consumption is harmful to that readiness and detracts from training. Furthermore, alcohol-related incidents by 2ID Soldiers can have strategic consequences and can jeopardize the important relationships we maintain with the Republic of Korea. Furthermore, there has been shown to be a direct correlation between alcohol abuse and misconduct (e.g., sexual assault offenses). Therefore, we must ensure that irresponsible alcohol consumption does not deter 2ID from accomplishing its armistice training or wartime fighting mission, and does not endanger the lives and well-being of 2ID Soldiers and others. We must also establish and maintain a Warrior ethos that deglamoratizes alcohol and promotes early identification and treatment of abusers.”
Makes perfect sense to me. Actually, if you dig a little deeper you’ll find that this policy is an attempt to help cut down on the number of underage drinkers. Of course, this raises the question of why we have the idiotic 21 year old age limit on alcohol in the first place, but that’s a battle for a different day. The bottom line is that the 2ID has decided that the solution to underage drinking is to punish everyone and try to control soldiers’ behavior when they are off duty. I wonder how many otherwise good soldiers careers are going to be adversely affected when they blow a .11% BAC?
In any case, this is just the latest in a series of actions by the U.S. military to increasingly control the off-duty lives of its personnel. My favorite is the USAF’s “Culture of Responsible Choices.” It’s a sad commentary on our culture that even the military has been affected this deeply by nannyism.