JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Through technology and social platforms, the Joint Base San Antonio Army Substance Abuse Program, or ASAP, is adjusting to the circumstances brought on by COVID-19 in providing access to programs and services that promote the well-being of active-duty and installation community members.
ASAP is currently conducting two of its programs in virtual platforms, the Personal Risk Reduction Workshop and the Commander’s Risk Reduction Dashboard, or CRRD, II training, and will resume its substance abuse prevention training presentations in a virtual format in May.
The Personal Risk Reduction Workshop allows individuals and families a chance to take a personal risk assessment and covers several topics including how personal risk impacts a unit’s mission readiness and lethality and how to integrate personal risk reduction techniques in everyday work and family lives.
In addition, the workshop provides information on resources that are readily available in assisting individuals and families to set goals for personal risk reduction and real-time referrals to community support agencies standing by to assist workshop participants.
Commanders have the ability to participate in CRRD II training virtually. This training provides commanders with tools for real-time insight into their servicemembers’ individual readiness levels, utilizing personnel data covering more than 40 factors that could potentially facilitate high-risk events that may negatively impact overall mission readiness.
For information on both the Personal Risk Reduction Workshop and CRRD II, contact Alicia Cline, ASAP Risk Reduction Program coordinator at alicia.m.cline.ctr@mail.mil or 843-670-8591.
Leslie Noel, JBSA ASAP prevention program manager, will be accepting requests from unit prevention leaders for the substance abuse prevention presentations that will restart virtually in May.
Noel will provide the substance abuse prevention presentation in PowerPoint. The substance abuse prevention presentations meet mandatory training requirements for units and their service members.
“I can design a presentation to fit the unit’s needs,” Noel said.
Noel said the virtual substance abuse presentations cover the same topics she has focused on in face-to-face presentations to groups of servicemembers at unit locations, including alcohol and substance abuse, what a standard alcoholic drink is, proper consumption of alcoholic beverages, identifying different types of drugs and marijuana and the effects of drug usage on a person.
To request a substance abuse prevention presentation, unit prevention leaders can contact Noel at leslie.a.noel.ctr@mail.mil or 210-221-0326.
In addition, ASAP will conduct two webinars in May for unit commanders, active duty and JBSA community members.
The first webinar is May 1, focusing on COVID-19 and substance abuse and the effects of drug and alcohol use for people who have the virus.
“We are talking about the different health issues that come along with tobacco, alcohol and drug use that make you become more at risk for COVID-19,” Noel said.
Plans are for the COVID-19 and substance abuse webinar to be conducted on Zoom.
The second webinar is from 9-11 a.m. May 13 and will be led by Jermaine Galloway, a law enforcement officer known as the “Tall Cop,” and will be for JBSA health professionals, commanders, unit prevention leaders, security forces and Criminal Investigation Division members.
Galloway, a recognized national and international presenter in the field of drug education and prevention with 21 years of law enforcement experience, will talk about the newest drug and vaping products found in communities and over the counter drugs that are used and abused.
“What we are hoping to do is to give our health professionals, police officers, security forces members, commanders and unit prevention leaders information that they can use to identify people and servicemembers who are abusing drugs and alcohol,” Noel said.
For information on the webinars and to participate, call 210-221-0326.
“By engaging in prevention training and webinars, it will remind personnel that there are resources to help them with their circumstances, no matter how big or small it may seem,” Noel said. “As the prevention coordinator, I want to assist personnel with their readiness and resiliency to carry on the mission of the military. It is vital to understand that excessive drinking and the use of an illegal substance or the misuse of prescription drugs affect the mission’s readiness.”
Information on risk reduction, substance abuse, alcohol and suicide prevention can be found on ASAP social media pages: Facebook (@JBSA.ASAP) and Twitter (@JBSA_ASAP).