JOHN WALTER SPEAKS ON DRUG ERADICATION

Pilots from the Department of State Air Wing, headquartered here,
sprayed 169,987 hectares of coca plantations last year in Colombia.

That and other drug eradication efforts by the unit brought the
nation's drug czar to the base today to thank the men and women who
are at the forefront of the war on drugs.

John Walter, director of National Drug Control Policy, spoke today
before more than 100 government employees and contractors in a hanger
at the base.

"I came here to do something we don't do enough of, and that is to
express our gratitude for the work that you do," Walters said. "The
work that you do is unique in the government. We only send you to do
these things in the worst possible places in the world."

Walters present the Air Wing with a certificate for the effort,
including the work in Colombia, where the unit sprayed more coca
plantation last year since it began in 1994.

Walters said that surveys are showing that there is an overall decline
in drug uses among teenagers.

"I think the good new is we're seeing all drug use come down," he
said. "We're trying to avoid the substitutes we've seen in the past."