Photo By Senior Airman Elijah Chevalier | The Airmen Against Drunk Driving program for Royal Air Force Lakenheath and RAF...... read more read more
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ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- Dead silence is broken by an unfamiliar, escalating ringtone.
My eyes blink open to a flood of harsh fluorescent light, illuminating bare walls and dated furniture in a room I don't immediately recognize.
A stranger in the corner of the room has taken the call, pen scribbling quickly as he gives short, hushed responses to the caller on the other end.
The fog lifts as I remember where I am and why I'm here. I glance at my watch and swear under my breath.
It's nearly a quarter after three, so I must have nodded off for about 15 minutes. No matter, because it sounds like it's finally time to go to work.
The man on the phone hangs up and passes his notes to my associate, who I met just hours ago. I don't know his full name and he doesn't know mine, because we like to keep things as anonymous as possible in this business.
"I'm getting too old for this," I tell myself as I slowly sit up and grab my keys. But it's always easy to talk yourself into "one last job" when someone reaches out with the right pitch.
I approach my associate and ask if he has all the details. He nods, so we grab our jackets and walk to the parking lot in silence.
In the car, once the engine roars to life, he relays the most important details. We're headed to a nightclub about 20 clicks away, looking for three guys. He knows one of them, so they should be easy to spot.
He punches the address into his GPS and it's time to drive.
The roads are deserted this early on a Sunday morning, and the only other traffic seems to be taxis and police cruisers. I count three of the latter, and I'm sure there were probably a couple more I didn't spot.
Things get a bit livelier as we pass through the city and approach our destination. It's now just before 4 a.m., but a crowd is still mingling outside the closed nightclub. I pull in behind a row of taxis and keep the car running as my associate jumps out.
He scans a group near the closed entrance and quickly picks out the gentlemen we're looking for. He approaches the trio, exchanges a few words, and they follow him back to our vehicle.
I roll down the window as they approach and my associate slides back into the front passenger seat.
One of the men leans in to ask, "You guys AADD?" -- referencing the syndicate known as Airmen Against Drunk Driving.
"That's us," I reply. "Hop in."
The men pile into the backseat, and as soon as the doors slam shut, I hit the gas and we're off.
After we get the first drop-off address, there's a bit of small talk as everyone shares a bit about how they got here.
While the trio isn't exactly a rogues' gallery from RAF Lakenheath or Mildenhall's Most Wanted, two of the men have had previously run-ins with the law.
At this mention, I instinctively glance at the rearview mirror to check our six. We're breezing along A11 not far from where I earlier noticed a stationary police car.
No one is trailing us, or so it appears.
One of the men from the back chimes in, "that's what I thought too, the night I got my DUI."
As it turns out, two of our passengers have previously been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, during separate incidents under very different circumstances.
The first had been out for just a few drinks, waited until he no longer felt even buzzed, and drove back as carefully and inconspicuously as possible.
As soon as he parks and gets out to walk a couple blocks home, a police car pulls up. The officer gets out and asks him if he's been drinking.
A short while later, a breathalyzer confirms he's barely over the legal limit here – just enough for a DUI.
The second man didn’t make it quite that far, and had been pulled over after having “more than a couple” of drinks.
A bit more, as his blood alcohol concentration at the time was nearly four times the legal limit.
Both individuals were staff sergeants at the time of their respective incidents, but lost rank, driving privileges, and a lot of cash due to hefty legal fines. Thankfully, there were no fatalities … this time.
The backseat conversation shifts to other topics, and the sun is rising as we drop off the last of our passengers safely at their destinations.
Our shift is now over, so I drop off my associate – an AADD volunteer from another squadron – and head home to catch a few more hours of sleep.
The next day, back at the office, I reach out to the Lakenheath AADD team to get a few more details about the program here.
I’d been a volunteer before at other bases, and each one has slightly different policies and procedures, such as the pickup radius, operating hours, and eligibility.
But the intent of AADD is the same everywhere: to be a rescue mission when all other means have been exhausted; not a free cab or your first or only plan to get home safely.
There are no magical cocktails that make you any smarter the more you drink, so it’s important to ensure you have more than one sound plan before you even go out.
Have a designated driver. Phone a friend. Utilize your chain of command. Call a taxi. Crash on a couch or check into a hotel. So many options.
AADD is there when those plans fail, and the goal is zero DUIs.
Here, AADD is available to all military I.D. cardholders, dependent I.D. card holders, NAF employees, DOD civilians, MOD, and TDY personnel. Hours of operation are 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on all goal days, holidays, family days, and every Friday-Saturday.
Pick up locations include all in a 20-mile radius from RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, to include Newmarket, Bury, Ely, and Thetford.
Lakenheath and Mildenhall trade weekend coverage, and in the first five months this year, a combined total of 250 volunteers have provided 169 “saves.”
Without the assistance of squadron leads and volunteers, AADD simply would not work. If you’re interested in volunteering, contact your squadron POC or reach out to a member of the AADD team.
Finally, when the next weekend, holiday, or down day arrives, make it your own goal to be the “smartest person in the room” at the party, the bar, or the club: drink responsibly and have more than one plan to safely get home.
If those plans fail, call AADD at 07979-748538.
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.21.2017 11:27 |
| Story ID: | 259836 |
| Location: | BRANDON, SUFFOLK, GB |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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