ALCOHOL ABUSE

DEFINITION
Alcohol abuse is the use of alcohol to an extent it has an adverse effect on performance, conduct, discipline, or mission effectiveness and the user’s health, behavior, family, community, and Department of the Navy or leads to unacceptable behavior as evidenced by one or more acts of alcohol-related misconduct.

IMPACTS
Alcohol abuse degrades our combat readiness, undermines our core values, hurts our Marine Corps family and can potentially cause unnecessary loss of life. This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. All incidents will be dealt with through appropriate judicial and/or administrative processes. Those involved will be screened by the command SACO to determine if treatment is warranted.

OWN YOUR ACTIONS
I expect every Marine and Sailor to take personal responsibility for their conduct in all situations. Leaders, be engaged to ensure expectations are understood, education and awareness training is conducted, and Marines and Sailors are held accountable. Look out for signs of alcohol abuse – from the obvious such as driving under the influence to those less so such as being hung over Monday morning and displaying poor performance. Be on the lookout for legal and social problems as they might be indicators of alcohol abuse. Demonstrate a bias for action mentality with immediate and appropriate action when you see a fellow Marine or Sailor who may have had too much to drink or appears to have a drinking problem. Have your buddy’s back.

GETTING TO THE PARTY AND BACK
Choosing to drink responsibly means you come up with a game plan prior to drinking, and then executing it. Consider in your plan: transportation, to include the use of designated driver or setting aside funds for a taxi. Don’t drive after consuming alcohol! If your plans require change, call a friend, someone in your chain of command, or utilize your MCCS unit “Arrive Alive” card.