LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Virginia –
The morning after the Super Bowl, Senior Master Sgt. Dwayne Hillard, 1st Communications Squadron First Sergeant, got on the treadmill next to his squadron commander at the gym and mouthed the words “no calls.”
Lt. Col. Michael Black breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like they were going to make it to one full year without a single DUI, and it happened for a very simple reason.
Communication Airmen promised they wouldn’t get one.
It’s part of the squadron’s Wingman Program, a simple but effective program brought to life by the squadron’s command section. The program stresses having a plan and more importantly, having a wingman, someone an Airman can call if they’re in trouble.
Now, one year after the program began, the squadron is celebrating 365 days without a single DUI.
On Feb. 7, 2005, every member of the 1st CS had to come to a Saturday formation because one of them got a DUI Superbowl weekend, Colonel Black said.
It was the first such formation since the former 1st Fighter Wing commander implemented the anti-DUI policy less than two weeks before. Added to the weight of the situation was the fact that it was a communication squadron member whose DUI had prompted the wing commander to implement the policy in the first place.
“We had the DUI that triggered him to say that, and we had the DUI that was the first,” Colonel Black said. “There were already a number of DUIs in the wing. My squadron had at least three.”
For the squadron, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“It was a dark day, that day,” said Sergeant Hillard, who keeps a photo of that formation hanging in his office to help him remember. It was not the only alcohol related event he attended that morning.
“An hour or two later, the commander and I were telling the family of an Airman about the death of their son,” he said.
An Airman stationed at another base had died of alcohol poisoning. His family lived in Chesapeake, and since the Airman had been a communications troop, it fell to the local communications squadron commander and first sergeant to speak with the family.
“It was the hardest day of my career,” Sergeant Hillard said. “After that, we circled the wagons with leadership”
The command section came together and drafted a program designed to keep its Airmen from getting DUIs.
Chief Master Sgt. Mick Johnson, superintendent at the time, is credited with coming up with the tenets of the program.
“I said, ‘we can punish people all day long, let’s try something different,’” he said. “So we embarked on a 120-day challenge. At the end, we’d have a squadron barbecue.”
The program requires every Airman to have a wingman and to call that wingman if they’re needed. Each squadron member was given a card to sign and keep with them, a pledge to have a wingman and take an active interest in that wingman’s wellbeing. On the back of the card is a poem written by Chief Johnson called “My Wingman”
“Your wingman is someone you’d call when you’re stranded and you only have one call left on your cell phone,” Chief Johnson said. “That’s the type of wingmen we wanted.”
No one is excluded from the program. Colonel Black carries his wingman card with his Blackberry.
“Formalizing the program is a way to bring it to the forefront,” he said. “It internalizes what the wingman program is. If you take an oath or pledge, you take it more seriously than just lip service.”
Chief Johnson said the program’s greatest virtue is its simplicity.
“It’s a matter of setting achievable goals,” he said. “We would challenge them to know who their wingman is. It seems to have worked.”
Colonel Black does random checks, asking Airmen about their wingmen during commander’s calls.
“I single out 10 people and ask who their wingman is,” he said. “I’ll know if they’re not being sincere.”
Senior Airman Joan Frantz, flight administration, was at the Feb. 7, 2005, formation and takes the program very seriously.
“It was kind of embarrassing,” she said. “But it was a learning experience. If one messes up, everyone messes up.”
She said it’s not just about DUIs, either.
“You’re more involved with that person,” she said of wingmen. “You get to know that person. It’s not because I have to but because I want to.”
Colonel Black said it’s not a success for the command section, but the entire squadron.
“It’s a squadron program. The members of the squadron made it a success,” he said. “They took ownership. They took this on and met the goal. And it’s ongoing.”
Sergeant Hillard said the squadron would continue with the program and shoot for new records.
“Now that we’ve proven we can do it, if we take one step at a time, there’s no reason for the 1st CS to get a DUI,” he said. “One year is not enough.”