POPE AIR FORCE BASE ORDERS RANDOM DRUG TESTS

Military personnel passing through Pope Air Force Base's main gates
stand the chance of being told to take a drug test.

The tests, part of the Air Force's larger random drug-testing program,
are designed to curb increased use of drugs such as Ecstasy and LSD,
military officials said. Use of such drugs has become more prevalent
in the military in recent years, officials said.

But users are hard to catch because the drugs don't stay in the body
very long, the officials said.

The new weekend program will help catch hard-core users and deter
those who might think about using drugs, said Col. Steve Baker, the
vice commander of the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope.

Baker said the stakes are too high to have drug users in the military
fixing and flying planes.

"I cannot afford to have those people on my base," Baker said
Friday. "The one thing we don't have is a tolerance for drugs ... I
have to find and eliminate these people from the U.S. military."

Baker was on hand the first time security police randomly selected
people passing through the gates for drug tests. It was early on a
Saturday morning in May, between 2 and 4 a.m.

At the main gate, Baker handed out letters to airmen, ordering 17 to
head to a clinic immediately for urinalysis.

The testing time coincided with the closing of local bars and rave
clubs.

"I want them to imagine my ugly face at the front gate and say to
themselves, 'Col. Baker's going to come meet me at the front gate.'"
Baker said. "We want to help them make the right choice."

Baker said Friday that he was unsure how many people tested had
failed. The test results take weeks to get back, he said.

Fairness Questioned

Airman 1st Class Sarah Stephens, 20, said a friend of hers was
recently stopped at the gate and asked to take a drug test. It was
late and she was tired. She was held up for more than an hour,
Stephens said. She says the test is inconvenient and targets mainly
people who live on base.

"I don't think it's fair at all," she said. "People are going to
feel like they are being targeted."

But others said they think the tests are a good thing.

1st Lt. Lisa Wendling, who works in the 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation
Squadron, said the Air Force has to take extra steps to ensure that
it's people are ready to fight all the time.

"If you are doing drugs in the middle of the night, how prepared are
you going to be to get that call?" Wendling said.

But even Wendling said the test won't be well-received.

"I think it definitely would be an inconvenience," she
said.

Officials said they have other ideas that they may implement to catch
drug users off guard.

Pope airmen interviewed said they think the base may begin recalling
units and then stopping troops for a drug test at the gate.

Staff Sgt. Caleb Antrim, 25, is in military intelligence. He said the
new policy might be inconvenient at first. But he said it will help
keep airmen from making a career-ending mistake.

He likens the new policy to laws mandating seat-belt
use.

"A lot of people were actually upset about that," he said. "But I
think it has actually saved lives."