** FILE ** Family members and friends in Norfolk, Va., welcome home ... more >Apparently, drunken sailors are causing such problems that the U.S. Navy has announced random alcohol testing, starting next month.
The Marines are randomly testing, too.
Those with blood alcohol levels above .02 percent could face counseling; the program emphasizes behavior modification more than punishment. Sailors reporting for duty with a blood alcohol level of .04 percent or higher will be ordered from the work site.
The goal, one Navy official said, in an Associated Press report, is to prevent incidents, like suicides and sexual assaults, “due to the irresponsible use of alcohol.”
The Navy will be distributing portable alcohol detection devices to an estimated 2,000 commanders before the end of May.
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Cheryl Chumley is a continuous news writer for The Washington Times. Previously, she was part of the start-up team for The Washington Times’ digital aggregation product, Times247. She’s also a 2008-2009 Robert Novak journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation. She can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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