Cal Guard Counterdrug Soldiers become D.A.R.E. Officers

Photo By Staff Sgt. Lani Pascual | SFC Mark Karandang, right, a prevention specialist with the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Counterdrug Task Force, shows off his Drug Abuse Resistance Education graduation certificate. D.A.R.E. mentors John Breston and Julie Lawrence helped teach the two-week course to law enforcement officers and two CDTF personnel, including Karandang.  

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES

05.11.2018

Story by Sgt. Lani Pascual 

California National Guard Primary   

Los Angeles, California - Sergeant 1st Class James Aleschus, a civil operations non-commissioned officer with the California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, exchanges congratulations with officers and sheriff’s deputies while clutching a two-foot stuffed lion named Daren. He received the Drug Abuse Resistance Education mascot with a graduation diploma, declaring him a certified D.A.R.E officer, during a ceremony held at Crowne Plaza in Los Angeles, California, on May 11.
This course was the first in almost a decade to include members of the California National Guard. Aleschus was one of two CDTF personnel who volunteered to complete the intensive, two-week program alongside law enforcement officers.
“We’re actually here to protect the children, so that’s how I look at the big take; making sure they’re making the right choices, making sure they’re understanding, observing, and being safe,” Aleschus said.
The training allows military members who become D.A.R.E. officers to serve their mission, become involved in the community, teach and work with children.
The Counterdrug mission uses a two-prong approach to drug prevention by addressing both supply and demand. D.A.R.E. teaches children how to make positive choices which, in turn, will hopefully curb the demand for drugs, said Sgt. 1st Class Mark Karandang, the second CDTF member to complete the D.A.R.E training this year.
“Our impact is so great,” Karandang said. “When [children] see a uniformed person there, whether it’s military or law enforcement, they’re going to receive our message.”
D.A.R.E. officers have been directly impacting schools since 1983 and now teach world-wide. The program was jointly founded by Los Angeles Police Department Chief Daryl F. Gates and the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Rafael Morales, D.A.R.E. America training facilitator, says the program has evolved and come a long way. A retired state trooper, Morales has worked with D.A.R.E. for more than twenty years.
The K-12 grade curriculum is evaluated every five years to revise, update and enhance effectiveness, he said. Children are not preached to, but taught to ask questions to get out of tough situations and make responsible decisions. The purpose of this social-emotional learning is to equip children with tools to guide their choices when they are stressed.
“I think it’s a lot better because you’re empowering the kids and letting them make those decisions on their own,” Morales said. “It’s kind of interesting; you get kids that suggest making improper decisions and the other kids in the class correct the behavior, if you are a good facilitator.”
When entities like Counterdrug support the D.A.R.E. mission, both programs are enhanced, he confirmed. A continued collaboration between partners with similar philosophies is a home run for mentorship and empowers everyone.

Coming Full Circle
After almost ten years of absence from youth-based programs, renewed participation became the mission of Maj. Ruel Fuentecilla, the CDTF civil operations program manager. Bringing back school education for drug prevention brings his career full circle. Fuentecilla became a D.A.R.E. officer in 2006, when CDTF was still a partner, and taught the curriculum until 2010. In 2009, he was named D.A.R.E. officer of the year; the first military member in the nation ever to receive the distinction.
“I didn’t know the magnitude at the time,” Fuentecilla said. “It was a great honor being the first.”
In 2011, Counterdrug shifted their prevention focus onto anti-drug coalitions and campaigns within the community and took a step back from the D.A.R.E program in accordance with the National Guard Bureau’s mission priorities at the time, he explained.
Fuentecilla believes interception starts with students and, as program manager, worked with CDTF command to bring focus back into schools this year. His priority was to get Counterdrug personnel trained as D.A.R.E. officers and, with the success of this pilot, build a more robust partnership program.
D.A.R.E. has a long history in the community and is now evidence-based after the curriculum was vetted by university researchers.
“We have our first two, trained D.A.R.E. officers for the Counterdrug Task Force in nine years,” Fuentecilla said. “This is a historical event for Counterdrug to bring this back and be able to hold the training here in California.”
Going forward, he hopes that full-time personnel can be dedicated to prevention instead of being dual-hatted, as all civil operation members are now. Based at D.A.R.E. America headquarters as the CDTF liaison, Fuentecilla wants to leave the task force with a legacy of youth involvement for years to come.

• Date Taken: 05.11.2018
• Date Posted: 05.31.2018 18:45
• Story ID: 279107
• Location: LOS ANGELES, CA, US