DRUGS AND THE MILITARY

The military is having enough trouble recruiting without the embarrassment
of a drug scandal at Fort Bragg. Perhaps the recent accusation of drug use,
involving 13 members of a military-police brigade, will serve as a catalyst
for a different approach; courts- martial and discharges don't seem to be
stopping drug use.

The last thing the military needs is another image problem.

Perhaps a good place to start would be with the acknowledgment that there
is more to the problem than image. Officials at Fort Bragg, elsewhere in
the Army and in the military as a whole should realize that 13 soldiers in
one unit, on top of 11 charged last year from the 82nd Airborne, are
symptoms of a serious internal problem.

Military training strives to instill a sense of togetherness and loyalty.
That's hard to sustain when the "family" is distracted by drug use.

Expulsion is unlikely to do much for individual soldiers and isn't doing
much for the military except thin its ranks. It's time to find a way that
works, such as rehabilitation that takes into account the mindset of soldiers.

The military needs now more than ever to present itself as an appealing
opportunity. If all teens see are low pay, drug problems and racism, what's
the attraction?

The military used to be considered a way for small-town and minority youths
to do an end run around society and enter a field in which anyone who was
skilled could advance. But a 1999 Pentagon report revealed that
lower-ranking minorities are still facing racism and thwarted opportunities.

Young people have many opportunities; military pay is bad; and teens are so
attuned to individuality that the Army now runs ads touting "an Army of one."

And the government and military leaders sometimes seem to have trouble
deciding what the military does. In recent years, troops have often been
used in multinational and humanitarian missions; however, Secretary of
Defense Donald Rumsfeld plays that role down. It's unlikely that a young
person seeking direction will join an enterprise in which words and actions
contradict each other.

A strong military continues to be vital to American strength, as it has
since the days of Valley Forge, when inspired volunteers helped defeat the
world's finest fighting force. But one wonders how many blows to its
foundation the military can survive.