Armed Forces soilders drinking at 18

[colkemp]

Is it just me or do everybody else feel the same way about this. I think that if your in the Armed Forces that you should be able to get a drink ar bar. Im not talking about every other underage person. I just find it ludacris that you could die for your country but not be able to get a drink. Comments?

[SarDragon]

Given the way I've seen 18-20 yo military members behave sober, and as a former member of that group, I think 21 is a reasonable minimum drinking age. A review of various statistical collections will back this up. There has always been a disproportionate percentage of young people involved in fatal incidents due to alcohol involvement.

[Eclipse]

+1 being in a uniform doesn't make you more responsible, necessarily, and may actually make you more inclined to take risks.

There plenty of PD, FD, and other similar situation where people are risking life and limb but still can't partake - they can't gamble in
most states either.

I would say in situations on base where personnel do not have the ability to leave, then I'd leave it to the military, otherwise, if you need
to cross into and risk civilian lives, then you need to play by the same rules as everyone else.

[colkemp]

Well I agree and disagree. Maybe i wasnt that clear.  I would like to see military personal under age to be able to drink on base not off base. I too was one of those soilders that could drink at 19. But it had to be either out of country or on base. Of course you will have people that abuse that powerlike always. But we already have millions of underage drinkers now. Ranging between high schoolers to college. I just dont understand how you could die for your country or kill for your country but not be able to take a drink.

[Eclipse]

But we already have millions of underage drinkers now. Ranging between high schoolers to college. I just dont understand how you could die for your country or kill for your country but not be able to take a drink.

All of them breaking the law and risking their futures.  How does adding more help?

[SarDragon]

Well I agree and disagree. Maybe i wasnt that clear.  I would like to see military personal under age to be able to drink on base not off base. I too was one of those soilders that could drink at 19. But it had to be either out of country or on base. Of course you will have people that abuse that powerlike always. But we already have millions of underage drinkers now. Ranging between high schoolers to college. I just dont understand how you could die for your country or kill for your country but not be able to take a drink.

Because people in that age group, both military and civilian, have not shown sufficient maturity when presented with the opportunity in the past. I've seen just as many ugly incidents on base, when military members were allowed to drink on base at 18.

Dying for your country isn't really a good criterion, but it seems that a war zone would ba a much more honorable place to do so, than the local interstate highway.

[cap235629]

The general approach to this by the military is to adopt the local law where the installation is located with regard to the drinking age.  Overseas it is almost exclusively 18.  CONUS is almost exclusively 21.

If a service member is at a "Command sponsored function" they may drink at that function at the discretion of the commander even in a state where they would be breaking the law if not on a Military Reservation.

[caphornbuckle]

I don't know about now, but in the mid 90's Columbus AFB, MS allowed the drinking age for BEER to be 18 but not the hard stuff.  Kept the DUI-free days low too!

[jimmydeanno]

At our base, the DUI sign gets changed by the person who got the last DUI, everyday.  They aren't allowed to drive on base, so they get to walk or get a ride to the gate with the DUI sign each day to change it.  They're stuck doing it until the next DUI happens. 

I really don't understand how anyone nowadays gets DUIs.  There are abundant taxis, Airmen Against Drunk Driving will give you a ride, and ALL of the local bars will take your info and do an IOU for a cab if you don't have the cash for one.

[Eclipse]

I really don't understand how anyone nowadays gets DUIs. 

Ditto, though the real answer is that the first thing alcohol impairs is judgement.

[arajca]

WIWAD, our first sergeant had a Blazer signed out every Fri-Sun specifically for drunk runs. Every soldier in our battery had a card with the phone number (CQ desk) and top visited the local establishments when he started this to pass on the info. Those soldiers who volunteered as drivers got Monday PT off if they made one run on the weekend and Monday morning if they made two or more. One got a DUI as he drove back on base Fri evening. MP's called top who id'd him and told the MPs they could keep him until his hearing.

[ol'fido]

Knew a couple of guys in my unit who felt that if you were in the military you should be able to drink before they turned 21. That is until one had to escort the body of the other home after he drank himself to death one night in the barracks. I remember going out on the lanai about 1 am one night and seeing the company street full of Aussies that were TDY to our battalion and the ambulance they called for this kid. The CQ Sgt practically went unconscious himself giving this kid CPR until the medics got there.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

I live not too far from Canada.

The drinking age there, depending on province is 18 or 19.  In no case is it higher than 19 anywhere.

They seem to manage it well; for one thing they are no-mercy when it comes to DUI.

I don't know what our problem is.

[jimmydeanno]

some will tell you that it's because Alcohol isn't a normal part of society and culture the way it is in Europe, Canada, and other parts of the world.  It's seen as a party accessory, so when you consume it here its assumed that it is to be used in a partying manner.

Other cultures its just a drink here and there with a meal or a few with.friends.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

My dad told me that when he was stationed in West Germany, the kids took beer to school in their lunchboxes, and the German Army had it in their canteens when they did field exercises.

Again, no problems.

[abdsp51]

Being able to serve shouldn't entitle one to drink.  We all know that booze impairs judgement and it really impairs the judgement on an 18-20 yo.  In Korea the legal age was 20, in Europe I know it was 18.  Serving in the military by no means should entitle one to exempt from any laws.  I have seen more harm come from people drinking and doing dope than I have anything else.   

[RiverAux]

It would be somewhat intellectually satisfying to have one single age to serve as the point at which you are considered an adult.  But, in order to give this thread some sort of linkage to CAP (which it lacks so far), let us recall the several inconsistencies in our own regulations involving 18-21 year old cadets.  Maybe we should fix those before starting to worry about the drinking age. 

[RRLE]

I find the topic ironic. I got to vote for president at 18 right after the 26th Amendment was passed. The tag for passage was that if we could drink, drive, get drafted  and kill people we should be able to vote.

Now an 18 year old can do all of that except drink.

[Майор Хаткевич]

As others have said, the majority of the world allows it at 18. The maturity argument isn't really an argument. I know PLENTY of 21 year olds who go on benders too. You don't gain maturity at midnight on your 21st.

Just make it simple. Driving? 18. Smoking? 18. Voting? 18. Drinking? 18. Military? 18.

[cap235629]

Being able to serve shouldn't entitle one to drink.  We all know that booze impairs judgement and it really impairs the judgement on an 18-20 yo.  In Korea the legal age was 20, in Europe I know it was 18.  Serving in the military by no means should entitle one to exempt from any laws.  I have seen more harm come from people drinking and doing dope than I have anything else.

Then you need to read up on your laws.  The military is not exempt from any law, they fall under a different jurisdiction.  This jurisdiction gives a commander broad discretion.

I have seen ego kill more people than booze or dope myself.

I am not saying there isn't dangers involved but drinking is not the problem, it is lack of responsibility for ones actions.

If you can die for your country you should be able to have a beer, to suggest anything else is just insulting.