Saving Supermen

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Connor Estes
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  What do you get when you cross five supermen, two spidermen and a cowgirl?

Don't know? The answer is a night in the life of an Airmen Against Drunk Driving volunteer, who ensures those who think they are superman don't fall into the kryptonite of driving under the influence.

"It was Halloween night and probably my most memorable experience as an AADD volunteer," said Airman 1st Class Jolene Bilan, 48th Comptroller Squadron budget analyst and AADD secretary. "It's not every day that a person gets to see a bunch of drunk super heroes and a cowgirl, so it was an intense but funny night."

"I was able to see a lot of friends use AADD that night, so it was a nice feeling knowing they got home safe."

Senior Airman Veronica Guerrero, 48th Contracting Squadron contracting specialist and AADD liaison, agreed picking up drunk people can be pretty funny during an AADD night.

"They tend to have funny stories about their night out, or they get car sick so we have to make sure they're holding a trash bag the whole time," said Guerrero.

According to Bilan, when she works as a dispatcher and receives a call, it can take up to an hour just to figure out where the caller is.

"We get calls and the person doesn't know where they're at, doesn't know their cell-phone number or even their own names," said Bilan. "Sometimes the only thing we get out of them is 'I'm outside and wearing a black shirt,' so we ask them if they can at least give us some kind of landmark."

While situations may seem funny, what isn't funny is they are just the type of environments that can lead to a drunk driving incident. That is what AADD is here to prevent.

AADD is an organization for the Airmen, by the Airmen. The goal is to reduce the risk of vehicle fatalities by drivers under the influence of alcohol and to eliminate future alcohol-related driving incidents by providing military members a method of transportation, without using chain of command and without fear of repercussion.

"I think it's a great initiative for Airmen to get involved and be a Wingman. It's a program to let Airmen know there's a backup plan available to them for free, and it's here to keep the DUIs down," said Bilan.

So with available resources like AADD and the multitude of taxis in the community, why are we still seeing DUIs?

"People aren't taking the initiative to be responsible," said Guerrero. "They have all these resources they can use, but they just choose not to. They have this false sense of judgment and think, 'I only had a couple of drinks so what's the big deal?'"

Bilan added that she thinks people get impatient waiting for a ride or think that taxis are too expensive.

"They call us and want to get home right away, grow impatient and don't want to wait," said Bilan. "People just don't have the mindset on how this could affect their career, or how it may cause harm to someone else."

The consequences of an Airman who receives a DUI can range from reduction in rank and pay grade, revocation of driving privileges, paying thousands of dollars in court fees, performing community service to attending numerous alcohol-education classes and waiting months before they get their license back.

Both Guerrero and Bilan agree that compared to the lifetime of grief, money and consequences drunk driving can cause, getting an AADD ride is well worth the wait and a taxi is well worth the cost. AADD volunteers have 1,089 saves so far this year.

The success of the program however, is dependent on a large, reliable pool of volunteers.

"We'll get 10 calls and only have 3 drivers on hand so we definitely could use more volunteers," said Guerrero.

AADD will pick up people on Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. If there's a 3-day weekend then an extra day will be covered, including holidays.

According to Guerrero and Bilan, volunteering for AADD reflects the Air Force core value of "Service before Self."

"It's a volunteer duty that has to be near and dear to your heart," said Guerrero. "You have to feel that it's for a good cause. Knowing I'm saving lives and careers makes it worth the sacrifice of my time."