Joseph Crawford, alcohol and drug control officer, Jose Limon, human resources director, and Robert Guile, prevention coordinator, pose for a photo Wednesday, displaying the 2007 Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award. Photo by Virginia Reza.
ASAP wins top award
Virginia Reza, Monitor Staff
Three members of the Fort Bliss Army Substance Abuse Program traveled to Washington, D.C., Oct. 24 to receive the 2007 Secretary of Defense Community Drug Awareness Award.
The annual ASAP awards are presented to all military branches in recognition of outstanding command efforts to educate military and family members and the surrounding communities on the dangers of drug abuse and on the benefits of a drug-free lifestyle.
“I’m very proud of the ASAP team,” said Jose Limon, human resources director. “They are a hard-working group of people who have developed tremendous working relationships with agencies in the community. They are just interested in keeping drugs off the streets, children and our Soldiers. I think that is great.”
The post ASAP is located two miles north of Juarez, Mexico. The 2.2 million residents of El Paso and Juarez make up the largest border population in the U.S., directly impacting the availability of illicit drugs to military personnel. Fort Bliss is in the middle of a major pipeline of illegal drugs transported across the border from Mexico. Because of this, the ASAP program has worked to raise the level of substance abuse awareness for Soldiers, family members, and civilians throughout the installation and the surrounding community, said Joseph Crawford, alcohol and drug control officer.
“The key thing to remember is that ASAP radiates enthusiasm and promotes cooperative behavior between organizations,” Crawford said. “Our primary goal is to reach the schools with students of military, retired and Department of the Army civilians and make them aware there is a problem in El Paso and that there are organizations that can assist them. The message we want to get across is, say no to drugs.”