Left Coast Guy is one of my better pals, and I noticed to my surprise the other day that we have known each other for almost 35 years. He has a serenity in his thought process that I often envy, and a gentle manner even when he is applying careful critical thinking to the issues of the day. He dropped a note this week to tell me that he thought I was getting a little dyspeptic of late- maybe even to a full-blown curmudgeon status.

I took his point. Old Jim has that territory covered, copyrighted, in fact, and accordingly I am going to back off. I am going to take a quick road trip and settle some estate matters for a couple days and maybe the exposure to talk radio on the long road to Up North will sooth my mood.

Hahaha. Sorry. There are some nagging last details on Raven and Big Mama’s estate that need to be cleaned up, and I am going to take advantage of the paralysis induced by the end of the Government Fiscal Year to dash up to the Little Village By the Bay and finish the Great Liquidation.

I have the iPod already set up in the Panzer and will be listening to random play-lists of music that have nothing to do with anything in particular, and nothing whatsoever about politics except maybe the older tunes that refer to when we were younger and wanted to overthrow the government.

I got a prepublication copy of a new survey in my in-box. It is alarmist, as all surveys these days seem to be, and hit close to home. The title of the thing is arresting: “ Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces.”

I alert on these things since I am sensitive to the way people who do not- and did not- serve look at the active and veteran populations. The whole Rambo thing about Vietnam Vets never sat well with me, and since the establishment of the all-volunteer force, the gap between the vast majority of the population and their military has only deepened. I can’t think of any prominent vets in the Administration except for Eric Shinseki at the VA.

I am completely OK with that, I guess, though a little of that “shared sacrifice thing” people are yammering about might go a long way to curing some of our more obvious problems. But enough of that. This particular survey was commissioned by the Pentagon itself, although it was paid for by the Department of Health and Human Services. It was conducted by a group of health professionals who make up the “Committee on Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management of Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces.”

I scanned the report with interest, thinking that they might be on to something profound, like the idea that sending kids into the maw of endless wars with grinding repetitive deployments against implacable and brutal adversaries might have health consequences.

Shoot, I thought we were all in agreement on that. The number of troops and vets who have taken their own lives is appalling. The news from Afghanistan with the Green-on-Blue epidemic of violence is a case in point. How do you maintain equanimity and good mental hygiene with your host allies, of which a distressing number seem to think that bringing a belt-bomb to the morning meeting is a good way to start the week?

Anyway, I was not surprised by the fact that the troops seem to be self-medicating to cope with the stress. General Order Number One prohibiting anything fun notwithstanding, the Committee found that binge drinking and use of prescription drugs was a major problem.

I certainly would not be surprised if that is true- but of course, I could not find the table that determines exactly what the terms mean, and whether or not it is any more or less common than the behavior of the population at large. Judging by the crowds at the football games I watched over the weekend- when I was not sleeping in the parking lot at College Park- it would seem there is a fair amount of that going around.

The subject of the report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn “from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.” The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their “special competences” and with regard for “appropriate balance.”

I was thinking that a recommendation to give the troops a break might be prominently featured, but I was not surprised to see one of the recommendations that made the Executive Summary. It is nothing less than a declaration of war on the tactical level. Here is the text of the recommendation:

“The institute…urges Defense to attack alcohol use at its source: base exchanges that sell alcohol. Below-market alcohol prices at base exchanges likely encourage elevated rates of unhealthy alcohol use.”

I am not sure what they consider “healthy” use, but my 93-year-old drinking buddy Mac would probably know. The report goes on to recommend “cutting the number of base outlets that sell alcohol and limit their operating hours.”

That ought to do it.

Jeeze Louise. I better get over to Fort Myer and get in line. The retirees are going to be up in arms.

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com