Photo By Sgt. Crystal Reidy | Sgt. Stephen Gonzalez, UPL student and member of the 108th Army Band, Arizona Army...... read more read more
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PHOENIX – Twenty-six Soldiers from the Arizona Army National Guard became the newest Unit Prevention Leaders after graduating from a two-day Substance Abuse Program held at the Allen Readiness Center at the Papago Park Military Reserve, July 7-8.
Unit Prevention Leaders learn how to be the commander's subject matter expert on the Army Substance Abuse Program, conduct proper urinalysis collections, provide alcohol and drugs training to the unit, and assist the commander in running a drug testing and prevention program, said Sgt. Shawn Wagner, drug test coordinator with Bravo Company, 153 Battalion Support Brigade.
“We teach Soldiers how to handle positive test results and the process to clear a valid prescription or provide resources for service members to get treatment for substance use and abuse,” Wagner said.
Wagner said the major portion of the training focuses on community outreach and the importance of readiness.
“The urine analysis is a deterrent, but what we really want is Soldiers to not be using drugs at all,” Wagner said.
The class used multimedia props such as videos and power point presentation to show Soldiers how drugs affect them and why it’s important to not use drugs.
“We use the example that some drugs stay in your system for so long and in the Guard we can be called up at anytime to support the state. The forest fires are not going to wait until the drugs get out of your system,” Wagner said. “We need to be ready to go because that is part of being in the guard,”
The class gives us a lot of information in a short amount of time, but the instructor was great and were very engaging, said Sgt. Stephen Gonzalez, UPL student and member of the 108th Army band.
“I didn’t really know how much information was needed to be a UPL,” Gonzalez said. “This information will make sure I do everything by regulation because my unit is depending on me to do my job correctly.”
The requirements to be a UPL is to be an Officer or noncommissioned officer, designated on appointment orders by the Company Commander, successful completion of the UPL class, not currently enrolled in ASAP or under investigation for drug offenses.
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2016 18:51 |
| Story ID: | 203506 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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