British Army Losing Battle With Booze
December 22, 2008
Scotland on Sunday
MoD reveals six in 10 soldiers may be alcoholics
Nearly six out of 10 British soldiers drink so much they could be classified as alcoholics, according to a shocking internal report by the Ministry of Defence.
The findings, contained in a document analysing the drinking and drug-taking habits of Army recruits, found that the majority of soldiers are drinking at levels considered to be hazardous to health.
Of the group analysed in the paper, 58 per cent were "considered possibly dependent on alcohol".
Soldiers blame the heavy drinking culture on the Army which, they said, encourages regular binges and drinking to excess.
The Ministry of Defence last night insisted it had now put in place support programmes, particularly for when soldiers are known to drink the most, after tours of duty.
The insight into the hard-drinking habits of soldiers comes as the armed forces face claims of being overstretched as they attempt to cope with the demands of serving on two fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"Soldiers are not helped by the fact that the Army is so overstretched," said Clive Fairweather, a former commanding officer in the SAS. "When you've been on a hard exercise or hard operations, you reach out for alcohol. It can help with bonding and a lot of good can come from alcohol in the military.
"But there is a down-side. The problem is trying to achieve the right balance, and these figures sound as if it is getting out of kilter. But an Army bereft of alcohol would not be able to do its job - it would be too brittle."
The findings were uncovered in interviews with more than 100 soldiers at three locations in Britain: Redford Barracks in Edinburgh, Longmoor Camp in Hampshire and Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire. The report, conducted in November 2007, was placed in the House of Commons library last week.
It declared: "The majority of soldiers were regularly drinking at levels considered to be hazardous to health."
Among the civilian population, figures show that around 6 per cent of people drink at levels which indicate dependency. However, measured on that standard, the report concluded that the Army figure was 10 times higher.
It also found that more than half of all the soldiers interviewed admitted that their drinking had increased after they joined the Army. The excessive drinking was a factor in drug-taking as well, the report found. "Many felt that they probably would not have taken drugs if they had not been drunk."
One soldier, quoted anonymously, said: "I didn't really think I'd change at all in drinking, because I didn't like the taste of alcohol really. But then I joined Army life and they take you out on the piss and I got my first taste for Jack Daniel's. And then I was spending near enough most of my wages because I was going out two nights a week drinking."
The report's main conclusion was that the Army needed to conduct an "immediate investigation into the medical and disciplinary context within which alcohol issues are treated in the Army".
The Ministry of Defence last night insisted it had put in place comprehensive support systems to try to persuade soldiers to ease back on drinking.
A spokesman said: "All three services run robust programmes designed to raise awareness and promote the message of sensible drinking. The sale of alcohol and individual consumption limits are strictly regulated, particularly when personnel are serving operationally."
He added: "Individuals identified as being at risk receive counselling and welfare support including attendance on preventative early intervention programmes."
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: "Those at the top must commit to changing this harmful culture."
The authors of the report asked interviewees how much they drank when they went out. A total of 64 per cent said they had six or more drinks in any one session. One in five admitted they were unable to stop drinking once they started.
A third of the interviewees also admitted they had injured themselves or someone else as a result of drinking in the last year.
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This has been a problem of Armies since time began, we use to say if a soldier wouldn't drink and fight, could you really trust them to fight, when they were sober?
Then you also have the drinking to forget the mental images of the battles you have already fought in the past, you try and drink your demons away. Trouble is it never has worked
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
British Army Losing Battle With Booze
