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Drinking part of culture

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead wants to see a 25 percent decline in alcohol-related incidents in 2009.

That order came at the end of January, after an internal Navy survey showed that — despite an overall decline in alcohol-related incidents over the past few years — one in three sailors admitted driving a car after drinking too much. The number was one in four for officers.

That illustrates what Roughead and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West already know: that the Navy’s alcohol problems are deep-rooted and cultural.

It’s telling that the number of reported alcohol-related incidents has declined while the frequency of admitted heavy drinking by sailors and officers remained steady. It’s even more telling that those rates of binge drinking are almost double that of the civilian population.

The military services like to consider themselves a mirror of society, but when it comes to alcohol consumption, it’s clear the Navy’s problems are much worse.

Leadership is right to crack down on alcohol abuse. But insisting on a 25 percent reduction in incidents could change the way commanders and investigators report incidents, as opposed to truly changing behavior.

To change behavior, the Navy must change the culture. And that is a far harder nut to crack. How far can the service go in tackling what sailors do on their own time, both at home and on liberty? The Navy has done a superb job in cleaning up chiefs’ initiations and toning down semi-official parties, like the Tailhook convention. But consuming alcohol as an activity continues to be a big part of a culture that still has more in common with college campuses than professional work environments.

Turning around the culture of alcohol will truly be an all-hands effort. But it won’t be done by chasing stats.