Oregon daily emerald., July 23, 1973, Page 5, Image 5

Drinking
by enlisted
men causes
increasing
waste
Bv WILLIAM L. CLAIBORNE
(C) 1973, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — More than three
quarters of the junior enlisted men in the
Army and Navy have serious drinking
problems, according to the results of a
study issued by the Pentagon.
Forty-four per cent of a sample group of
9,500 Army men were classified as
“problem drinkers” who went Absent
Without Leave or otherwise missed work
assignments because of drinking. Twenty
nine per cent of the group were classified
as occasional heavy “binge” drinkers,
while only 4 per cent were categorized as
non-drinkers and 9 per cent were labeled
as “drinkers with no problem.”
Similar figures were offered by the
Navy, which reported that 20 per cent of
their enlisted men were “serious problem
drinkers” and that only 21 per cent of the
study group were rated as non-drinkers or
“no problem” drinkers.
For many young enlisted men in the
services, alcohol has replaced drugs as an
abuse problem, according to Dr. Richard
Wilbur, assistant secretary of defense for
health and environment. The cost of
alcohol abuse, Wilbur said, runs into
millions of dollars in lost work time or
reduced efficiency.
He said that in the fiscal year 1973 alone,
the Army lost 2,200 “man years” of work
as a result of alcohol abuse. The cost of this
lost time in payroll and allowances alone
was $17 million, Wilbur said.
TOUGHER DEFINITION
During the same period, he said, the
Army lost 16,000 “man years” in reduced
efficiency because of late arrivals or early
leaves attributed to hangovers. (A “man
year” represents the total numbers of
hours worked by one man during a
calendar year.)
The definition of a “heavy drinker,”
according to Wilbur, is a person who takes
five or more drinks a day four or more
times a week, or takes 12 or more drinks
one day a month, or drinks for more than
a full day once in a three-year period.
An alcoholic, by the Pentagon’s stan
dards, is a person who has suffered or has
been threatened by a loss of marriage, has
severe financial instability or has lost his
job because of drinking, or who is unable to
function without alcohol.
Wilbur noted that the Pentagon’s
definition of a “heavy” drinker is sub
stantially more severe than that used in
civilian life. For instance, he said, a
serviceman who drinks five bottles of beer
containing 3.2 per cent alcohol daily for
four days would be classified as a “heavy”
drinker.
He also noted that servicemen often are
classified as heavy drinkers as a result of
trouble they get into in a highly confined
living atmosphere, while civilians who
drink just as much in a more open society
woukt not be so classified.
He said the services were taking some
steps to reduce the likelihood of alcohol
abuse, principally by shortening “happy
hours” in service clubs here and abroad
and by raising the prices of liquor in PXs.
MORE MEN TREATED
But, he added, “We’re not about to
embark on a campaign of prohibition
because of this problem.”
Wilbur quoted statistics which showed
that the number of alcoholics treated in the
services has risen drastically in the last
year. For example, the Navy treated 817
men for alcoholism during the five years
from 1967-1971, Wilbur said. However, in
1972 alone, he said, the Navy treated 1,059
alcoholics; in the first three months of
1973, he said, 484 alcoholics have been
treated.
Part of this increase, Wilbur noted,
resulted from the services’ increased
emphasis on alcohol treatment programs.
Wilbur said nearly 11,000 Army enlisted
men and officers have been treated for
acute alcoholism since 1971. He said the
monthly rate is increasing steadily. In the
six years from 1966 to 1971, Wilbut said, the
Air Force treated 366 alcoholics. In the
calendar year of 1972 alone it treated 408
alcoholics, he said.
The statistics supplied by Wilbur showed
far less severe drinking patterns by junior
officers. There was an even lower rate of
drinking for senior officers, according to
the Pentagon statistics. Only 18 per cent of
the junior officers and 13 per cent of the
senior officers were said to have “serious”
drinking problems, according to Wilbur.
“We have excellent programs which
have largely controlled the drug abuse
problems in the military,” said Wilbur.
“Now, we must concentrate more effort on
problem drinkers who can be treated and
restored to active duty.”
He attributed heavy drinking in the
services to social causes, Jthe loneliness of
family separation and job pressures.
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