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Members of the 353rd Maintenance Squadron conduct operational checks on a MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft during routine maintenance at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The mission of the 353rd MXS is to perform on and off equipment maintenance for MC-130H Combat Talon, MC-130P Combat Shadow, and C-130 Hercules weapons systems tasked to conduct unconventional warfare and special operations in support of USCINCPAC and the National Command Authority. (Photo by: MSgt Val Gempis)

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Employing A Tried, True Weapon

Some Pacific Air Bases Attack 'Club Drug' Use With Random Weekend Drug Testing

By Wayne Specht
Pacific Stars and Stripes

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (Jan. 24, 2001) -- With little fanfare, some air bases in the Pacific have begun random weekend drug testing to catch airmen using "club drugs" such as ecstasy, Pacific Air Forces officials said.

The weekend testing has not been made mandatory at Pacific bases, said PACAF spokeswoman Capt. Amy Sufak.

"Although clinics at Pacific Air Force bases in the Pacific were not directed to step up weekend testing programs, PACAF's surgeon general, Col. David Young, strongly encouraged them (to do so) in a memo to base clinics late last year," she said.

The weekend drug tests began Jan. 7 at Okinawa's Kadena Air Base.

It's All About Prevention

So far, only air bases in the Pacific have started the weekend testing, said Leigh Anne Bierstine, a spokeswoman in the Air Force Surgeon General's office in Washington. The decision to start the testing was made because the Office of Special Investigation advised the bases to do so, or because the base is in a high (drug) traffic area, Bierstine said. How to conduct the testing was left up to the individual bases, she said.

Rather than do random dormitory sweeps or drug checks at the base's gates, Kadena's 18th Medical Group has decided to allow unit commanders to "volunteer" their units for the drug testing, said Heidi Macholl, the base's drug demand reduction program manager.

Macholl said military personnel will think twice about using illegal drugs such as ecstasy "when they start hearing that we're out there testing more often."

Misawa Air Base, Japan, soon will begin testing airmen on the weekends, Misawa's American Forces Network newscast announced Thursday. Base public affairs officials refused to comment on the AFN report.

Monday Morning Detection Difficult

Many club drugs can be flushed from the user's body within 24 hours. In random tests administered during the week, weekend drug users often appear drug-free.

"Because of the surging popularity of drugs like ecstasy, the problem that we face is the majority of club drugs cannot be detected on Monday mornings," Sufak said in a telephone interview Friday. "(Therefore), there's a growing need to screen people over the weekend."

At Misawa, the weekend testing will be the same as random tests during the week. Airmen will have two hours to report to the testing site to give a urine sample, the AFN report said. Misawa public affairs officials refused to grant Stars and Stripes an interview with the base urinalysis program's overseer who appeared in the AFN broadcast.

"We have to refer all queries to Pacific Air Forces headquarters for further statements," 35th Fighter Wing spokesman Tech Sgt. Brad Carder said Friday.

In the past year, a number of service members in the Pacific have been court-martialed for using the drugs, especially ecstasy. Yokota Air Base has disciplined at least five airmen in the past eight months.

The weekend drug testing has not begun at Yokota, but there's a strong possibility it could happen in the near future, said Anna Hardy, the base's drug testing program manager.

Strategy Of Surprise

She couldn't say when the weekend tests would occur, because "there needs to be a certain degree of unpredictability. Without it, the program wouldn't work," she said.

To keep the level of unpredictability high, Yokota will use a variety of methods to perform the weekend drug testing. Gate checks and dorm sweeps have not been ruled out.

Osan Air Base and Kunsan Air Base in South Korea and Andersen Air Force Base in Guam did not respond to queries Monday.

PACAF-wide, the Drug Urinalysis Testing Program identified 41 cases for illegal drug use in 1999.

"Last year, 44 were positive, including five for ecstasy at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and one at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska," said Maj. Victor Hines, another PACAF spokesman.

Since Oct. 1, the program has identified six drug users, but no ecstasy users, Hines said.

"There were 12 drug-related cases in 1999 and 28 in 2000," he said. "Twelve of the 28 drug-related cases in 2000 involved the use of ecstasy. In 1999, only one case involved the use of ecstasy."

Sandra Jontz and Carlos Bongioanni contributed to this report.