SOLDIERS SURPRISED BY 'OPERATION SAFEGUARD'

Soldiers are tested randomly for drug use each month at Fort Bragg, but
officials say soldiers who take Ecstasy have been able to beat the system.

The 82nd Airborne Division took a step toward changing that early Friday
morning.

The unannounced ''Operation Safeguard'' was the first time the division has
combined car searches with on-the-spot drug testing.

''We're safeguarding the quality of our military and the quality of our
force,'' said Lt. Col. Jerry Stevenson, the 82nd's provost marshal.

The checkpoint stop was from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m., a time when many soldiers
were returning from night clubs and bars, celebrating the beginning of the
long holiday weekend. Soldiers were off Friday and get Monday off for
Presidents Day.

The stop was targeted at all drug users, but especially those who use
Ecstasy -- a drug that stays in the body for only three days.

They say soldiers who use Ecstasy try to beat the odds of getting caught by
taking the drug on the first night of a four-day holiday weekend. If they
happen to be selected for a random drug test upon their return to duty, the
drug is already out of their system, unlike other drugs that stay in the
body for weeks or months.

''We think there is a rising trend in drugs that pass through the system
quickly,'' said Col. Karl Horst, chief of staff for the 82nd Airborne Division.

Department of the Army regulations require each unit to give 10 percent of
its soldiers random urine tests each month. But the 82nd tests 20 percent
of its soldiers each month.

The 82nd tests a higher percentage of its soldiers because of its combat
mission, a spokeswoman said.

The traffic stops are a reinforcement of that testing, and division
officials said they hope soldiers who were stopped Friday will tell their
friends about it this weekend.

''Hopefully it will make them think twice,'' Stevenson said. '''Is tonight
the night the MPs will be out?'''

The 82nd plans to have more checkpoint urine tests at unannounced times and
locations.

''The majority of the soldiers in the division are not doing anything
wrong,'' Stevenson said. ''But for a small percentage that are, hopefully
they will question the next time they go out and decide to drink and drive
or do drugs.''

The checkpoint was set up in the heart of the division area on Ardennes
Street near Division Memorial Chapel. MPs directed drivers to pull into the
2nd Brigade parking lot.

Vehicle searches

MPs searched vehicles for drugs and weapons and soldiers were selected
randomly to give urine samples.

The urine tests will be sent to a lab and results are expected in a month
to 45 days.

Before the checkpoint, Stevenson had wondered if many soldiers would even
be out.

''I wondered if anyone would show up,'' he said as he looked at two long
rows of cars waiting to be inspected. ''They showed up.''

By 5 a.m., 89 cars had been searched. MPs found some open containers of
alcohol, a pair of brass knuckles and pyrotechnics, and in one car the
remnants of marijuana cigarettes.

At 2:30 a.m. one soldier who was a passenger in a car that was waiting to
be checked bolted from the car and ran across Ardennes Street toward his
barracks.

With a parking lot filled with squad cars and 20 MPs, he didn't get very far.

Like other soldiers waiting in line to give urine samples at 3 a.m., Pfc.
Richie Velez and his buddies wished they had taken a different route back
to their barracks.

''I really wanted to go to sleep,'' said Velez, a 19-year-old medic who was
on his way back from SportsUSA's ''Salsa Night'' when he was stopped. But
Velez said he wasn't too put off about the inconvenience.

''I really don't mind because it's for a good reason,'' he said. ''If it
wasn't a surprise, they wouldn't get anyone. But if I would have known, I
wouldn't have driven through here.''

Not everyone was quite so understanding.

''This is (expletive) stupid,'' said one soldier who waited in the cold as
his car was searched.

Sending a message

Those running the operation see it differently.

''It sends a message out that the leadership wants not only soldiers to
know, but also the public to know that we're combating the use of illegal
drugs,'' said Capt. Michael Thompson, commander of the 82nd Military Police
Company.

Pvt. Patrick Williamson, who had to give a urine sample, spent the night at
Rock-Ola Cafe with his friends drinking beer. He said he knew people in
high school who used drugs, but he hasn't seen anyone take drugs since he
joined the Army. But he knows it happens.

''They're just looking for a good time in Fayetteville,'' he said. ''It's
hard to find fun so they try to have fake fun.''

Pfc. Shawn Che, who is 21, believes drugs are a problem in the military.
''It's a big deal,'' he said.

Last year, he said, he walked into a soldier's barracks room and caught him
smoking pot. Che told his supervisor and the soldier, who had just arrived
in the 82nd, was kicked out of the Army.

Stevenson, the provost marshal, said drug use in the Army mirrors drug use
in society.

''I think it reflects society in general,'' he said. ''I do not believe it
is running rampant.''