Veterans For America

William Kates, the Associated Press

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (AP) — Upset with an increase in the number of its soldiers using illegal drugs and being arrested for alcohol-related offenses, Fort Drum plans to publish the names and photos of alleged offenders in its post newspaper.

Starting with the front page of Thursday’s edition, the Fort Drum Blizzard will feature photographs of the 45 10th Mountain Division soldiers who have been charged with drunken driving since Jan. 1.

The names and photographs of soldiers arrested for such offenses will become a regular feature in the paper, although not on the front page.

“I don’t take this step lightly and I realize that there will be people offended by this,” commander Maj. Gen. Michael Oates said. “But apparently talking to them is not deterring this behavior, and financial penalties are not deterring this behavior.

“I understand soldier culture well enough … I may not understand youngster culture well enough … but I think they would probably not be happy with this public recognition of their misconduct,” said Oates.

Department of Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb said Fort Bliss officials publish the names of those convicted of drunk driving offenses. But she knew of no other Army installations publicizing the names of those arrested and their photos.

“Soldiers must live the Army values on and off duty. This requires discipline. Commanders at all levels are charged with maintaining discipline in their units. Addressing an issue before it becomes a larger problem is the right thing to do,” Edgecomb said.

Oates said there has been an “unacceptable” increase of substance abuse on the northern New York Army post over the last three months, although he did not provide any specific numbers.

Army-wide there were 4,621 incidents of active duty soldiers driving under the influence in 2006, the last year for which the Army has complete statistics, or about 2.3 per 1,000 soldiers, according to records. About 95 percent of those involved alcohol, according to Army records.

Presently, Fort Drum soldiers charged with drunken driving face immediate suspension of their on-post driving privileges, usually for a year, said Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel. The loss of driving privileges is not contingent upon a conviction, Abel said.

Commanding officers frequently remind soldiers about the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but the problem has continued, he said.

“To date, those offenses have been fairly private. You commit a DWI and virtually nobody knows about it outside your immediate chain of command,” Oates said. “I think a soldier who is willing to go out there and place himself and all the rest of us at risk has earned the notoriety that I’m going to provide them in the newspaper.”

Fort Drum also will publicize the names and photos of soldiers who test positive for illegal drug use. The post conducts random drug screening of 10 to 15 percent of its troops every month, making it likely that every soldier will be tested over the course of a year, he said.

The 10th Mountain Division has nearly 17,000 soldiers and has played a central combat role in the wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq.