Federal grant given to combat underage drinking in Cascade County

  • Published
  • By Valerie Mullett
  • 341st Space Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AFB, MONT. --  Federal officials announced in August that five bases, including Malmstrom, and their surrounding host counties, would receive grant money to help address and combat underage drinking. In a ceremony Oct. 17, a representative from the Montana Board of Crime Control, Patti Jacques, made the presentation - $350,000 - to members of the Cascade County Sheriff's Office, the Cascade County DUI Task Force, the Great Falls Police Department and Malmstrom Air Force Base. Jointly, these organizations will work together to step up enforcement programs to reduce the number of underage drinking incidents. 

"Receiving this grant will allow us to combat the issues of underage drinking in Cascade County," said Michael Ward, Chief of Security Forces Administration here and one of the key players in putting the grant package together. "With this amount of money, we won't feel the fiscal restraints." 

Part of preparing the grant package for consideration included a plan on how the money would be used. A certain percentage is earmarked for training, new equipment, alternative programs for people under 21 and other key enforcement efforts. But ultimately this money will be used to "increase awareness and hopefully, turn people around to make responsible choices," Mr. Ward said. 

"The biggest change I hope to see is a better understanding of the ramifications of what underage drinking actually brings to our community," said Steve Pretat, Great Falls Police Department Officer and another key player in the grant process. "Look at former Airmen Wood and Trotter ... and some of the more recent incidents. What do they all have in common ... alcohol. How many more people have to die, or get hurt, or loose their careers before we finally take this seriously?" 

If the law enforcement community of Cascade County answers that question, the answer is "none." But they won't be working alone to make that happen. 

A committee is now being formed made up of key members of both the Malmstrom and downtown communities to make recommendations for implementing the use of the grant money over the course of the next year. Those members will include (but are not limited to) representatives from substance abuse agencies, the chapel, the Airman's Council, first sergeants, health care and advocacy professionals as well as law enforcement officials all working together to decrease the underage drinking problem. 

"People need to understand that this program is not a feel-good program," Mr. Ward said. "Enforcement action will be very strong and initially, the MIP numbers will probably rise because we have increased ability to patrol and monitor activities now." 

The grant provisions also require Malmstrom security forces to track all MIP incidents. Previously, they only accounted for those reported through law enforcement channels and did not include those only dealt with through military chains of command such as first sergeants or commanders. 

Additional training will also assist in enforcement. 

"The biggest benefit I see is being able to work with Malmstrom and bring events or programs to the base that it never had the resources to utilize before," Officer Pretat said. "Working directly with Malmstrom law enforcement will be a plus." 

Another area where efforts are going to be stepped up is with compliance checks. According to Mr. Ward and Officer Pretat, Malmstrom has been supporting these efforts for five or six years in a somewhat unofficial capacity. The grant money will allow this program to be formally established and incorporated, Mr. Ward said. Statistics will be documented and better reviews of the data will be made. The information will also be used to justify the need to continue the grant money allocation in future years.
"For those who want to drink, either underage or legally, and break the laws, we will have additional plain-clothes officers in different establishments to enforce these laws," Officer Pretat said. "These officers are getting paid good money to do nothing but look for underage drinkers or those breaking the law." 

"Several years ago, the Air Force adopted the culture of responsible choices when it implemented the 0-0-1-3 campaign," Mr. Ward said. "This grant is part of a long term commitment to reduce underage drinking. The ultimate stance is zero tolerance."
"I guess everyone just needs to understand we are doing everything we can think of to protect our community from the down falls that come with underage drinking," Officer Pretat said. 

Cascade County could receive an additional $300,000 each of the next two years under the provisions of the grant if their first year's campaign proves successful.