The War on Drugs in the Air Force

In 1994, I was a brand new judge advocate in the Air Force. I received a telephone call from a squadron commander who had just learned that an enlisted airman in his squadron had tested positive for cocaine. He asked for his available options and the legal office's recommendation. Because I was inexperienced, I looked to the more experienced judge advocates in the office to determine what "normally" happens. As I learned then, in the Air Force, a one-time use of cocaine results in a court-martial. Over the next several years, when I talked to other Air Force judge advocates at other bases, it reinforced what I was told in 1994: a one-time use of any illegal drug, other than marijuana, is a court-martial in the Air Force. Even though the Air Force was normally harsher on drug abuse than the civilian judicial system, there was an explanation. The military has high standards and service members who voluntarily enlist in the military, by doing so, agree to be bound to this higher standard. I accepted this explanation and passed on that same wisdom to the younger judge advocates that followed in my footsteps.