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MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - Prime for Life, a fairly new course to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, was implemented in July of 2012. The Prime for Life website defines the program as a drug and alcohol program designed to challenge common beliefs and attitudes gently but powerfully to reduce the risk of health and impairment problems due to high-risk alcohol and drug use.
Over two million people have participated in Prime for Life since it was founded in 1983. The program has courses ranging from four and a half hours to 20 hours long. MCB Hawaii teaches the 16-hour curriculum in two days.
The course was used in the private sector before the Marine Corps implemented it. MCB Hawaii had the program for nine months as of April.
“There are similar programs to Prime for Life however the Prime for Life program, initiated last July, is evidence based and replaced the Alcohol Impact course which was not evidence based,” said Jonathan Barkley, a retired Marine and a teacher for Prime for Life.
Alcohol Impact was a noncommissioned officer’s course, so junior Marines and sailors could not attend unlike the Prime for Life course.
Prime for Life is a free course available to all active duty Marines, sailors, and family members 18 and older struggling with alcohol abuse and drug addiction. It’s not treatment, but an education level curriculum.
To attend the course you must either be a command or self-referral. A command referral would be from the chain of command when a Marine or sailor is caught in an alcohol or drug related incident. A self-referral would be a Marine, sailor, or family member, who wasn’t involved in an incident, but thinks they may have a problem. Active duty self-referrals must see their respective substance abuse control officer and be interviewed. Afterward the SACO will make an appointment at the Substance Abuse Counseling Center. The self-referral will then be screened by a SACC counselor.
Barkley stated that some of the clients know they have a problem while others are in denial. They say it was just one time, instead of realizing they have a problem. Most clients are command referrals, but some are self-referrals, and family members.
The course is taught in an informal structured setting at the SACC center. The clients receive a Prime for Life workbook with different activities and literature. The class follows a script base built over time with each chapter. They use power points, group activities, and videos of real cases and actor-based scenarios.
“The number of participants varies each month,” Barkley said. “Ideally a classroom size of approximately 30 is most suitable, however we can accommodate more clients.”
The Prime for Life course includes mandatory Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous classes. These classes are usually mandatory for people with alcohol-related incidents.
“Prime for Life does satisfy some state’s requirements for a person to be able to retrieve their driving license back after getting a driving under the influence charge,” Barkley said. “Hawaii requires a 14–hour education program to retrieve a license and Prime for Life performs that at no cost.”
Barkley said he is looking for long-term results for the clients, not just during their military career. He wants to make sure they get the education they need to teach them, and prepare them for future decisions.
“I’m looking at the long term, past their enlistment,” Barkley said. “I want a lifetime of choices made directly related to early education and prevention from the opportunity presented.”
The course uses a very thorough and detailed self-assessment as well as an array of tools the client can use to make better, wiser choices in relation to alcohol, prescription and illegal drug use. Barkley thinks the course should be taught to every Marine and sailor, to prevent incidents, instead of fix them after they happened.
“We are researching having a four and a half hour condensed version of Prime for Life to provide a professional military education session across the board for all Marines and sailors,” Barkley concluded.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2013 20:09 |
| Story ID: | 106169 |
| Location: | KANEOHE BAY, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 215 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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