Drugs, Alcohol Abuse, And Crime Is Becoming A Problem For The U.S. Army

CHUTE RECOVERY - A U.S. Army soldier gathers his parachute after jumping from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft over Fort Bragg, N.C., Sept. 12, 2010. The soldier is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Rissmiller

As Iraq Winds Down, U.S. Army Confronts A Broken Force -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — When Lt. Col. Dave Wilson took command of a battalion of the 4th Brigade of the 1st Armored Division, the unit had just returned to Texas from 14 months traveling some of Iraq's most dangerous roads as part of a logistics mission.

What he found, he said, was a unit far more damaged than the single death it had suffered in its two deployments to Iraq.

Nearly 70 soldiers in his 1,163-member battalion had tested positive for drugs: methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Others were abusing prescription drugs. Troops were passing around a tape of a female lieutenant having sex with five soldiers from the unit. Seven soldiers in the brigade died from drug overdoses and traffic accidents when they returned to Fort Bliss, near El Paso, after their first deployment.

"The inmates were running the prison," Wilson said.

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My Comment: The Army's report on this growing problem can be read here (pdf file).