Military Minute 11 Feb 24

I’m Papa Penguin and this is your Military Minute.

Drugs, strippers, and payday loans are as much a part of Fort Bragg…errr.. Liberty as the 82nd, alcoholism and divorce.

There has been and continues to be a serious drug issue at Fort Liberty. This base is located just off of I-95 and is basically the halfway point between Miami and NYC. Both of those cities also happen to be major drug trafficking hubs. It’s such an issue the FBI and the DEA both designate the area as a high drug trafficking area.

When I was a young lad growing up there the problems were legion. And since it was an open post, that meant any random person could just go on base. And they did. To do all sorts of various illicit activities. That’s changed. Since 9/11 it’s become a closed post. However it appears the outright criminal activity has gotten no better.

There were 31 overdoses from 2015-2021. There was even a MP dealing oxy out of his patrol car in 2022 (it’s mentioned in one of the articles below).

Criminal tendrils have breached the gates. Pretending otherwise, conducting DEI training, or going on a snipe hunt for mythical legions of white supremacists isn’t going to address the problem.

Army leadership needs to pull their head out of their 5th point of contact as our airborne brethren would say.

The solution for this problem isn’t hard. Start holding people accountable. And if you’re in one of those high speed units, congrats, you get the high speed lane to prison for the max sentence. Set the example. If those guys got hammered it would definitely send a message to the rest of the Army that no one is untouchable.

But leadership seems laser focused on highlighting differences instead of enforcing adherence to standards.

And that's your Military Minute.