ADAPT support, help when needed

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Deana Heitzman
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  "Despite common misconceptions among the ranks, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment is not a punishment," says Staff Sgt. Darren Pennington, 31st Medical Operations Squadron mental health technician.

The ADAPT program creates an avenue for service members to obtain the help and support they need to establish positive prevention strategies for substance abuse.

"We are here for support to service members who struggle or who think they struggle with alcohol abuse," said Pennington.

The Air Force established that alcohol abuse negatively impacts work behavior and performance, which could be detrimental to physical and mental health. Therefore, in 1998, they initiated the ADAPT program to provide comprehensive clinical assistance for service members seeking help in their alcoholism.

There are three ways for an Airman to find their way to an ADAPT clinic to include: self-referral, commander referral and medical referral.

"Leadership often perceives service members going to ADAPT as them improving themselves," said Pennington. "If a service member realizes they have a problem on their own, it can only positively improve their career because they are stepping up and doing something about it."

Service members may often draw their misconceptions after an incident, which demands the immediate attention of their commander.
"After an incident involving alcohol, commanders are obligated to referrer you to ADAPT," said Pennington. "Lastly, you can be medically referred after reporting binge drinking or alcohol misuse on a PHA [Preventative Health Assessment]"

Once the service member is referred, an initial assessment with a technician and a provider will take place. The interview will cover whether the service member is abusing alcohol or is dependent on alcohol by a series of tests and family history review.

Regardless of whether or not alcohol seems to be a serious issue, service members will be required to attend two appointments - minimum -- with providers and they will go through Alcohol Brief Counseling for education.

If future treatment is required, the clinic will use all the information from the initial assessment to decide if local group treatment will suffice or if it is necessary to treat through outpatient resources.

Pennington says a lot service members claim ADAPT left them separated from the military but the majority of the time, the incident where alcohol was involved was the reason.

"In terms of a [driving under the influence], the legal process can be difficult for service members," said Pennington. "It is also hard for them to decipher between punishment and support when we become involved after an incident."

According to the 31st Security Forces Squadron reports and analysis office, DUIs are the most common alcohol-related incident at Aviano.

Service members, who think they have a problem and do not want to seek the primary help of ADAPT, can attend Alcoholic Anonymous groups offered by the Base Chapel in Area 1 on Monday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

For more information on ADAPT, call 632-5321.