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All, hope that all is going well and everyone is ready for the holidays. This year is looking to be a lot better than last year this time. There is no guarantees as long as congress is involved with the continuing resolution but there is nothing showing that we will have to lay off people as we did last year. The focus that we need to have is our integration into the law enforcement community and our embedded impact on the local community. The more we can have our partners tell our story the better off we will all be. I appreciate all the great work that you all have done this year. Keep up the great work, and focus on your family during the holiday season. Hope you all have a very merry Christmas.

LTC Benjamin Sartain

Counterdrug Coordinator

C o u n t e r d r u g C o o r d i n a t o r N e w s

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

DDR supports

Red Ribbon

Week

DEA FIT Group

Members

hitting

criminals

where it hurts

New CDTF

PTO Program

up and

running

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

DDR 2

GRT 3

Criminal Analyst 4

CD Aviation 5

PTO 6

Substance Abuse 7

Safety 8

Stats 9

G E O R G I A C O U N T E R D R U G T A S K F O R C E

Georgia

Counterdrug News

16 DEC 2011

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Red Ribbon Week 2011 DEA Special Agent Enrique “KIKI” Camarena gave his life for his country fighting the War on Drugs 26 years ago while working undercover in Mexico. In Honor of his sacrifice agent Camarena’s family started the Red Ribbon Campaign in his home town in 1985, with the goal of educating children on the dangers of drug use. Since its inception, Red Ribbon week has grown into a national movement. The Georgia Counterdrug Task Force has participated in many Red Ribbon events con-ducted throughout the state for more than 20 years. This year the Drug Demand Reduction Team delivered drug awareness presentations and education classes to 45 schools totaling over 20,000 students and adults. The DDR Team members traveled throughout the state this year delivering the “drug free” message, often assisted by the Counterdrug aviation section, which flew to 13 schools in their new UH-72 Lakota helicopter. All task force members agreed that this year offered an especially rewarding experience talking with students and teachers because of the enthusiasm and appreciation displayed at each event. Next year the DDR Team’s goal will be to reach even more students and travel to

new schools in parts of the state unable to be reached because of the high demand for

our unique and dynamic presentations.

D rug D emand R eductio n

G e o r g i a

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In October 2011 members of the Coweta County, GA Crime Suppression Unit (CSU)

and Soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard Counterdrug Task Force Ground

Reconnaissance section (GRT) conducted an operation, utilizing an undercover officer

to purchases various forms of narcotics from three different locations in Coweta

County. During this operation, the under cover officer traveled around the county with

a confidential informant purchasing narcotics from some of the counties known drug

dealers and repeat offenders. Investigators had been receiving information for some

time about these three “trap houses” operated by several individuals. After a lengthy

investigation and many man hours, members of the Coweta County CSU, assisted by

the Warrant Division, Criminal Investigations Division, and the Fayette County Drug

Task Force, simultaneously conducted three search warrants on the residences in

question. These warrants led to the seizure of marijuana, crack and powder cocaine,

and a small quantity of U.S. Currency. In conjunction with these seizures, several indi-

viduals were arrested and charged with the possession and distribution of narcotics.

Many of the individuals arrested were repeat offenders and will more than likely re-

ceive substantial prison sentences for these new charges.

G r o u n d R e c o n T e a m s

G e o r g i a

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Criminal A nalys ts

G e o r g i a

Agents with the DEA Financial Investigation Team (FIT) Group working on suspected members of a Drug Trafficking Money Laundering Organization conducted a Knock & Talk at an apartment complex recently. This was in reference to a vehicle parked outside the apartment that was used to deliver bulk US currency to a confidential source in the previous month. The agents were allowed into the apartment where verbal consent to search the apartment was given. Dur-ing the search agents discovered a large sum of bulk US currency. This was later confirmed to be $109,100.00.

This case is ongoing and is part of a larger scale operation in which $609,000.00 has al-

ready been picked up by the criminal organization involved and that this seizure has significantly impacted the ability of this group to finance their illegal activities. These investigations focus on criminal activities in order to achieve high-level prosecutions within an organization concentrating on the financial aspects of the case. They have a potential of disrupting the organization through the substantial seizure and forfeiture of money, conveyances, real estate, or other non-drug as-sets. On-going success of these operations are a direct reflection of the countless hours, dedica-tion and analytical skills displayed by the GA CDTF Soldiers and Agents assigned to the DEA FIT Group.

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C o u n t e r d r u g A v i a t i o n

G e o r g i a

Counterdrug Aviation finished with FY11 marijuana eradication during the first quarter of FY12. Each week CDAVN would send out at least two aircraft, three pilots, one crew chief, one observer, and a fuel specialist. The team flew every county in the state of Georgia at least once during the season in support of the Governors Marijuana Task Force. CDAVN flew over 750 hours of eradication resulting in the seizure of 21,000 plants, 64,000 in cash, 52 weapons, and 1 vehicle.

CDAVN has flown over 15 missions this quarter in support of DDR. The pilots and crew chiefs have talked to over 5000 kids and numerous teachers and faculty about how the aircraft is used in a counterdrug role.

Aviation has turned in two more OH-58 leaving the section with one

fully equipped FLIR and Night Sun aircraft. This aircraft will stay in our fleet

until the LUH is upgraded with the same equipment.

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In 2005, the National Guard Bureau Substance Abuse Program (NGB SA) conducted a review of the drug positive rate for the previous five years and deduced that additional support was needed to enhance the success of the substance abuse program in all states. In FY 06, the Office of Secretary of Defense Counternarcotics (OSDCN) provided additional funds within the Joint Substance Abuse Program fenced funding account to support a pilot project that would focus attention on substance abuse prevention and demand reduction activities in addition to the traditional drug testing program. The additional program was named the Prevention, Treatment and Outreach (PTO) Program. These funds were provided internally to support Soldiers and Airmen within the National Guard as well as conduct outreach and prevention education for their families. Twelve pilot states were selected based on ARNG drug positive testing rates, regional reach and end strength. The selected states formed a workgroup and provided input and policy guidance to NGB, thus establishing the initial formation of the PTO Program core components. Identifying prevention as a key core component to the PTO Program, the pilot states provided insight that led to the selection of a successful civilian evidenced-based program, Team Awareness, for adaptation to a military target audience. The original Team Awareness program was developed and implemented in a research setting designed for reducing substance abuse and risk behaviors associated with substance abuse among 18-25 year olds working in the food and beverage industry. Team Awareness demonstrated positive results in both the control group setting as well as replications, and has been adopted as a primary training tool in the drug free workplace program for the United Electrical Workers of America. Working with NGB and the pilot states, the Team Awareness program was adapted for use within a military culture and renamed Team Readi-ness. Team Readiness training focuses on risk behavior modification within all aspects of the military lifecycle including initial entry, training, preparation for deployment, deployment and reintegration post deployment. The interactive training focuses on stress management, risk reduc-tion, attitudes, perceptions and beliefs about that substance abuse that lead to tolerance of risk behaviors that underpin substance use, and peer to peer support that aids in identifying problem behaviors and motivating people to seek help. The pilot states also identified a need for strengthening the referral process for both treatment assessments associated with drug positives as well as soldiers and airmen who self-identified potential substance abuse problems or high risk behaviors. Although commanders are ulti-mately responsible for counseling service members and referring them to community based treatment centers for an assessment, this is not exactly a simple procedure and this was an area that the pilot group thought a single point of contact could greatly assist both the commander and the service member with this process. Several states furthered this process by expanding the entire referral tracking process to include tracking service member progress for those who seek treatment and providing the commander with monthly progress update reports and com-pletion or failure information. The last area of focus for the pilot states was that of outreach to military families as well as outreach to community partners as a way to provide needed prevention and treatment services for service members. The pilot states identified that, by providing substance abuse prevention edu-cation to family members, the family members were more equipped with information to help their spouses seek help with substance abuse problems before they were caught on a drug test and jeopardize their military career. Additionally, the pilot states identified a need to build relationships and partnerships with both state and local prevention and treatment service providers as a means of identifying low cost or no-cost services available to National Guard members, as they do not have military benefits to provide for these services. As a result of the initial success of the original 12 pilot states, OSDCN provided expansion fund-ing in FY 09 that expanded the program to a total of 28 states; and OSDCN again approved additional funding for FY12 that provided funding for a PTO Prevention Coordinator in all 54 states and territories. The PTO vision is to establish a culture of responsible choices, compatible with core National Guard values. The PTO mission is to provide substance abuse prevention education, assist service members with referrals to treatment services and conduct outreach to military families and community partners; all in an effort to increase military discipline, individual performance, and combat readiness. Program objectives include:

Increase retention and combat readiness Reduce the rate of positive drug tests in the states Provide education on the risk behaviors associated with drug and alcohol use Increase the number of service members who self-identify problems and seek help Increase the number of partnerships between the National Guard and local and state resources, and community coalitions Increase overall family wellness and resiliency

Georgia’s PTO Program Prevention Coordinator (PC) is TSgt Rebekah Nance, working out of the Joint Substance Abuse Program. If you have any questions concerning prevention education or substance abuse treatment resources within the military and civilian community, please con-tact TSgt Nance at (404)319-6743 or Rebekah.p.nance@us.army.mil.

P r e v e n t i o n , t r e a t m e n t , o u t r e a c h p r o g r a m

( P T O )

G e o r g i a

PTO Prevention Coordinator, TSgt Rebekah Nance

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The Joint Substance Abuse Program successfully

ended the year with 102% tested for the entire

state. I would like to thank all those involved with

making the JSAP mission a success. As FY12

kicks off, we would like to note that positive rate

for Georgia has dropped compared to the last two

years of testing, highlighting the outstanding

leadership within the state. As the calendar year

ends, I would like to inform all of you of some

changes to the JSAP program. SSG Brian Felker

will be deploying to Afghanistan at the first part of

the year, SGT Willie Robinson will backfill the po-

sition for SSG Felker during his deployment. We

would also like to introduce TSgt Reginald Harden to the JSAP program. TSgt Harden

has been with the Counterdrug Task Force DDR program for the last three years . All

questions on Substance Abuse testing can be routed through TSgt Harden and SGT

Robinson.

S u b s t a n c e a b u s e

G e o r g i a

S t a t e w i d e S u b s t a n c e A b u s e S t a t s

Army UPLs: 232 Air Guard DTPAMS: 78 Testing to date: Army– 1631 Air Guard-455 FY2011 1st Quarter: 16.0% (On-Going) Positive Rate: 1.5%

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S a f e t y n e w s

Office and Workplace Safety Modern offices have a great many safety hazards, such as: - Noise - Trips - Falls - Computers - Heat - Fumes -And many others …. DO’S AND DON’T’S OF OFFICE SAFETY

Do protect extension cords Do install enough electrical outlets to reduce the number of ex-

tension cords being used Do Not overload power strips Do store heavy objects on lower shelves Do clean up spills Do Not leave file drawers open Do use appropriate ladders and stand when accessing heights Do Not stand on the surface of office furniture Do record and report all accidents and incidents

immediately Do Not stand on the surface of office furniture Do record and report all accidents and incidents

immediately Remember safety in the workplace is as important as safety in the field avoiding accidents is everyone’s responsibility.

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Counterdrug Coordinator: LTC Benjamin Sartain (678) 655-3473

Executive Officer: CPT Joshua Patterson (678) 655-3478

NCOIC: CMSgt Scotty Bates (404) 319-6745

C o n t a c t I n f o r m a t i o n

STATS

Counterdrug HQ Address:

Georgia Counterdrug Task Force

1651 Perry St. BLDG 826

Dobbins ARB, GA 30069-4812

1st Quarter for FY2012