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So here's a question sure to drive some opinions from all over. Two beers in a combat zone, should it be allowed or no? I know for me personally, and no I'm not an alcoholic, but after a long day at work or busy day doing stressful tasks, I enjoy coming home and cracking a cold one. When I was in Iraq in 08-09 we were allowed to have two beers at our little JSS while watching the Super Bowl. To me it was a nice chance to kick back and take a load off. My thinking is, with all the cases of PTSD coming up, what if we allowed that decompression each night (provided soldiers are not immediately going out on mission), would it potentially lower the stress levels of soldiers knowing no matter how bad the day is that at the end of it they can crack a cold one and chill out a bit? So, should it be allowed or not?
Posted in these groups: 
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - Afghanistan
Alcohol
PTSD
Deployment
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) - Afghanistan Alcohol PTSD Deployment
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 115
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So I wrote my response below and the more I wrote the more I confused myself. I would like others opinions. Sorry it is not well thought out. I was just putting down what I thought as I wrote.
Your body and mind have to have time to decompress. You can only stay in condition red so long before you loose control. Having a beer and socializing can help, but so can working out, having a cigar, and reading.
Does that mean drinking in a combat zone is OK? Not sure it is the worst decision we can make. There are medicinal uses for alcohol in stress relief. Can everybody police themselves and be big boys? We all know they can't. So I am torn.
We did not have people killed by the droves in every other war fought by our fathers and grandfathers and those guys were hard drinkers.
Your body and mind have to have time to decompress. You can only stay in condition red so long before you loose control. Having a beer and socializing can help, but so can working out, having a cigar, and reading.
Does that mean drinking in a combat zone is OK? Not sure it is the worst decision we can make. There are medicinal uses for alcohol in stress relief. Can everybody police themselves and be big boys? We all know they can't. So I am torn.
We did not have people killed by the droves in every other war fought by our fathers and grandfathers and those guys were hard drinkers.
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1LT William Clardy
SGT William Howell, I understand your uncertainty, but might I remind you that we generally find our most effective policies are those which do not confuse the worst-case with the norm -- otherwise, the speed limit on our interstates would never have gotten higher than 55 mph. The key is deciding whether the risk makes the cost prohibitive relative to the anticipated benefit (and, despite what Mothers Against Drunk Driving says, there appear to be measurable benefits to moderate drinking).
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I don't see a problem with a beer or two in a CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT only.
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LCDR (Join to see)
There's documentation that President Nixon was too drunk to provide oversight on an emergency situation with the Soviet Union. It goes to how much have you empowered your people to make decisions if you are incapacitated...if they know your guidance, they should be able to act and provide backfill.
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Alcohol has been in combat since it was discovered and two met. Yet, the wars went on and winners and loser announced. It did not stop anything.
Why not just ban alcohol consumption while in the military for all situations, period. Do not let drinkers enlist or take oaths of office.
I was in Iraq (Ramadi) in 2003-2004, combat actions were there, our duty rotation was there, down time was there. Other than the actual combat patrols and the occasional mortar round, it was military duty. We were Soldiers 24/7/365. We were prohibited from consuming alcohol, but guess what..... And you know what? The combat actions were there, our duty rotation was there, down time was there; it changed nothing. But the senior leaders and political lackeys were happy that they had a policy in place that was sensitive to the "hosting" country.
Still shaking my head over having to be sensitive to an invaded peoples sensitivities.
Why not just ban alcohol consumption while in the military for all situations, period. Do not let drinkers enlist or take oaths of office.
I was in Iraq (Ramadi) in 2003-2004, combat actions were there, our duty rotation was there, down time was there. Other than the actual combat patrols and the occasional mortar round, it was military duty. We were Soldiers 24/7/365. We were prohibited from consuming alcohol, but guess what..... And you know what? The combat actions were there, our duty rotation was there, down time was there; it changed nothing. But the senior leaders and political lackeys were happy that they had a policy in place that was sensitive to the "hosting" country.
Still shaking my head over having to be sensitive to an invaded peoples sensitivities.
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Only reason I would say no is that someone would abuse it and get their non-drinking friends give them theirs or just outright steal them from the source.
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Many years ago when stationed in Europe we used to participate in field training exercises with the British, French as well as other Country forces. Many of these forces were allocated a small alcohol allotment (2 beers etc) per day even while in the field, I never heard of any problem and I'm sure if someone had a problem with alcohol they forfeited this privilege.
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SN E Robinson
Let me see high powered semi automatic and automatic weapons and alcohol! Is this a good idea? Ah Hayle Nawl!!!!!!!!
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I am all for alcohol in controlled circumstances, with limitations and supervision.
We are old enough to vote, old enough to join the military, old enough to watch our buddies get injured or die in combat.... so we are old enough to decide our fate
Far too many examples of alcohol in a warzone given, but remember...when you outlaw something and make it harder to get...you get more cases of extremes.....bring it back, regulate it, supervise it...and you will get more cases of controlled use by the greater part of the populace.
Stop thinking of the lower enlisted as being stupid or out of control...stop thinking of those younger than you as being people that need to be heavily regulated because they are not to be trusted with alcohol...
We're already trusting them with loaded weapons
We can trust them with something far less dangerous
We are old enough to vote, old enough to join the military, old enough to watch our buddies get injured or die in combat.... so we are old enough to decide our fate
Far too many examples of alcohol in a warzone given, but remember...when you outlaw something and make it harder to get...you get more cases of extremes.....bring it back, regulate it, supervise it...and you will get more cases of controlled use by the greater part of the populace.
Stop thinking of the lower enlisted as being stupid or out of control...stop thinking of those younger than you as being people that need to be heavily regulated because they are not to be trusted with alcohol...
We're already trusting them with loaded weapons
We can trust them with something far less dangerous
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1SG Michael Blount
As long as you don't do something stupid, and drinking someplace like Qatar, I have no problem with that. Don't pull that crap in a hot zone, though. Then I have to get uglier than I already am.
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I think one of the big issues these days is that officially, Muslims cannot drink alcohol so some of prohibition was to offend our hosts. I know that even during the Super Bowl in 2009, the cans had to be thrown into separate garbage cans so they would not get mixed up with the regular trash. I am reading a book on the Korean war and there it was not prohibited and of course, in Vietnam it was widespread. So I think if there is a way to keep it from getting out of control, I don't see an issue with it.
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I also enjoyed the two beer occurrence while watching a super bowl while deployed. I would also like to be able to crack a cold one while deployed. However, the reality of the situation in my humble opinion is that this is not a good idea. Leaders have enough challenges to deal with while deployed and the %10 who would abuse this privilege would make it a major struggle.
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While I love the idea in and of itself, I still have to say no. I don't know how many times that an ice cold beer would have been insanely amazing after a mission in 100+ degree heat, but things in a combat zone can be too unpredictable. I think in controlled situations, maybe, but the sanctions that would need to be imposed would be a logistical nightmare. There would have to be a specific bunker or other safe area designated as a drinking area, constant supervision and a replacement for everyone engaging in drinking. I can count on one hand the number of times any one of these were met in any of my deployments. Then you still have the problems in outlying FOB's and COP's. They are too susceptible to attack and even being overrun. In which case these places would not be allowed to partake, which affects morale.
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1LT William Clardy
You really think all that would be necessary, SGT (Join to see)? Back in my day, we had these creatures called non-coms, and when your squad leader told you it was time to lay off the booze, it behooved you to listen and obey because you knew that compliance was inevitable and would only get more painful (although as far as I know body-slamming was reserved for the soldier who got drunk enough to make a pass at the sergeant major's wife).
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SGT (Join to see)
Yes sir I do think these restrictions would be necessary. NCO's aren't allowed to touch a lower enlisted soldier anymore. Doing so would only end up in the loss of stripes, but a possible sentence in a cell somewhere. Beyond that, many of the NCO's today have only become such from necessity instead of earning it. I'm not saying there aren't some damn good NCO's left out there, but many would have never made it past E-4 as little as fifteen years ago. The ones who do still care about soldier care and discipline have their hands tied by rules and regulations.
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1LT William Clardy
NCOs weren't authorized to lay hands on enlisted in my day, either, SGT (Join to see). Technically, the body-slamming was a result of the soldier in question trying to force his way past the NCO who had just ordered him to stay in his barracks room until morning (after having escorted him out of the unit party for the previously mentioned transgression). Once the EM put his shoulder into the NCO, the NCO ended the discussion decisively, emphatically and (because the body slam was onto carpet) with less injury than the soldier inflicted on himself a few hours later when he fell while trying to come down the barracks stairs.
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