Buffalo Soldiers

Site Issues 2006 Archive Room
#1

Have just watched this film.

I’ve have heard, in the past, that the American forces had horrific problems with drug use in it’s army, I think they were the first to introduce urine tests also I think to combat this. Not to mention the “Not in my Army” slogan, etc. to combat such things.

And it is something that has come up once or twice in films. Although I have not come across this sort of thing whilst serving withthem. I also heard that at one time there were areas on board carriers that officers feared to enter with out armed guards. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Also in the early 70s it is reported that 1 in 3 american soldiers were drug users.

If anyone can tell of any problems with other countries forces as well and any counter measures then please add them.

I will point out that this is not a yank bashing thread and I would appreciate sane, calm and researched answers with information if poss. Rather than the IRONMAN stylee “The US Forces are the most bested and professionalist forces in the world, I know this because I am American”

Edit to add.

Have found this site, is it credible?

http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/central/brush/DrugUseVN.htm

Thought this quote from the site was a bit strange!!!

In fact, marijuana use was mostly a problem because it conflicted with American civilian and military values. Use of marijuana did not constitute an operational problem. Smoking in rear areas did not impact operations. Use among combat personnel came when units stood down rather when in the field. The Commanding General of the 3d Marine Division noted “there is no drug problem out in the hinterlands, because there was a self-policing by the troops themselves.” Life for combat soldiers depended on their being clear-headed.

This is definetly telling however.

While the Marines were subjecting all marijuana offenders to courts-martial, the Army took only dealers and users of hard drugs to trial. The more severe Marine approach was a failure: in 1969, nearly half the cases tried by the Marine Corps in Vietnam involved marijuana possession. Marijuana use was no longer confined to rear area units. A drug rehabilitation center was established at Cua Viet for drug users from infantry battalions. A senior Marine legal officer admitted the helplessness in stemming the tide of marijuana use: “I don’t know what the solution is…I don’t know what the hell we are going to do.”

#2

Absolutely true. The US Army was a “hollow force” after Vietnam, and conscription ended in 1973, due to this, there were enormous problems with unqualified, under-trained, undereducated, and outright criminal recruits. I was in the US Army at the time when the last wave of the Vietnam era members (my 1st SGT was a draftee!) were retiring, around the time of the first Gulf War, and heard many a story about having “to pull CQ (charge-of-quarters) with a 12-gauge shotgun or a .45.” Having said that, drug testing definitely cleaned up the US military, and by the mid 80’s things had improved greatly, though I think cocaine was definitely a problem since I believe coke is out of the system in a matter of days, and more difficult to test for.

I can’t say the Marijuana was a great problem, in fact I would surmise that alcoholism and “binge-drinking” to be far more destructive to any force than pot, but the problem with the pot in Vietnam was that is was often laced with a very pure, potent heroin. My high school history teacher was a very pompous, but fascinating, historian for the final stages of the Vietnam War (as a US Army Captain), and he often told stories soldiers that were eaten up by a very high grade heroin that they would be unable to get in the streets of the US when they returned, and they knew it. In fact the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) actually sold drugs both as a means to undermine the US military, and a s a way to profit. He mentioned a case where GIs in Vietnam actually sewed heroin into cadavers of casualties in order to smuggle it back into the US. This greatly affected the US Armed Forces until at least the early 1980s…

In fact, if you read the book about the US Special Forces Captain/doctor that murdered his family in FT Bragg, NC after Vietnam in the early 70’s, “Fatal Vision,” which I haven’t yet, I think you’ll find a written record of rampant drug abuse in the US special operations community. Mostly, it was prescription drugs they could clean out of a dispensary, mainly, it was post-war boredom and traumatic stress that was the greatest culprit, but this nearly led to the disbanding of the Green Berets after Vietnam, and their marginalization until the late 70’s.

#3

Now that was a very interesting and infomative read Nick. Got anymore?

#4

That is quite strange nick, i have always thought the americans were pretty clean when it came to drinking, certainaly in relation to the Brits, for example.

Unless that is the US service men of the last 10 years changing.

What is CQ though? What duties does that entail? Inspection of the barracks?

There is the depiction of drug use in Under Fire or whatever with Meg Ryan, when the medic injects between the toes.

Often wondered about the body thing. it is depicted in one of Tom Clancys books, and although some of his writing gets a bit purile, he is often very technically accurate.

Always thought the US SF was pretty clean though, thought the drug and other problems were mainly in the (for want of a better description) underclass of service men. i.e. the draftees, court recruited or just the ones who drift in rather than have a desire to serve and achieve.

I think the British anti drug inititive started prior to the problem getting out of hand. Britains drug use explosioon came after the American one, but the Army was able to copy the American scheme quicker.

Out of interest what year did the American Drug testing start?

I think the British one started in around 93 - 94

#5

I read a book a while back, written by a Special Forces Vietnam vet. He referred to them having a big jar of uppers (speed) in the bunker, known as “special forces popcorn”

#6

Time permitting…

#7

The drinking I don’t know, but I did see some real silly drunkeness while in, and I wasn’t innocent either…:smiley:

“Charge of Quaters.” It’s a sort of night, guard duty, where you have to stay at the front desk so to speak, and insure nothing out-of-line happens in the barracks…

There is the depiction of drug use in Under Fire or whatever with Meg Ryan, when the medic injects between the toes.

Often wondered about the body thing. it is depicted in one of Tom Clancys books, and although some of his writing gets a bit purile, he is often very technically accurate.

Always thought the US SF was pretty clean though, thought the drug and other problems were mainly in the (for want of a better description) underclass of service men. i.e. the draftees, court recruited or just the ones who drift in rather than have a desire to serve and achieve.

For the most part they are, now. This is mostly post-Vietnam era from about 1970-1975 I’m referring too. Once standards, and pay, were raised, things improved by 1980. So having said that, “Buffalo Soldiers” is a bit of an exaggeration, but is also still true to some extent.

I think the British anti drug inititive started prior to the problem getting out of hand. Britains drug use explosioon came after the American one, but the Army was able to copy the American scheme quicker.

Out of interest what year did the American Drug testing start?

I think the British one started in around 93 - 94

I really don’t know the exact year, but I would guess that limited drug testing took place towards the end of Vietnam, and routine surprise testing became policy by the late 70’s (maybe around 1978-1982?), it was in place certainly by 1985 at the very latest. That’s just a guess since it was before my time. Most of this info is second hand stuff I heard from “old timers” that disliked the political correctness of the US Army (by the late 1980’s), but did like the reduction in troop drug use and increase in overall professionalism.

#8

Some more info, it appears that testing started about 1980 or so…

Ex-Green Beret Doctor Jeffery MacDonald, convicted of murdering his family in a fit of rage while allegedly on “diet-drugs.”

A Look at Drug Use and Testing Within the Military

If you had visited a typical military unit in 1983, about one out of every four service members would have used illegal drugs.

If you had visited the same unit in 1998, about three out of 100 service members admitted to using drugs.

Between 1983 and 1998, the fraction of service members admitting to frequent drug use dropped from 23 percent to 2.7 percent. Officials say there are many reasons for the drop.

More

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/l/bldrugtests.htm

Of course, if you were in at the right time, the US Army may have done a different sort of drug-testing.:slight_smile:

'Don’t eat the MKULTRA brown acid!

#9

I served in a signal outfit in Vietnam 69-70. About 99% of the batallion used some kind if illegal drug. I always had at least two or three different drugs in my system at any one time. It was at a point where we didn’t even classify those who just smoked pot as drug users (“heads”). However, this was a non-combat unit. We used to get high with those who were in from “the field”. They told us they’d get high out there and a few said it was too dangerous. As a non-combat unit, we had to pull perimeter guard and for that many of us would use amphetamines. I constantly used pot, herion and opium.