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AIR FORCE TOBACCO BANS ARE GAINING STEAM --
The Air Force Material Command will soon start
a
three-phase program that will eventually
eliminate
the use of tobacco products at its bases.
Story here...
http://www.estripes.com/
article.asp?section=104&article=45458
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Air Force tobacco bans are gaining steam
By Kent Harris, Stars and Stripes
The U.S. Air Force, faced with a goal of dramatically reducing tobacco
use by 2010, is getting set to implement its first widespread ban on
such products.
The Air Force Material Command will soon start a three-phase program
that will eventually eliminate the use of tobacco products at its bases,
according to Lt. Col. Sherry Sasser, chief of health promotions for the
Air Force Surgeon General’s office.
Sasser said Thursday in a telephone interview that the move — which
doesn’t have a specific start date yet — was approved last week at a
Community Action Information Board meeting. The quarterly meetings are
held by the services to discuss issues and implement changes.
“It boils down to dollars. It boils down to resources,” said Sasser,
citing statistics that the Air Force loses more than $80 million
annually in productivity because of airmen who use tobacco products.
“There is not one positive health benefit from using tobacco. Not one.”
The plan by the AFMC has been months in the making, she said. The 31st
Medical Group at Aviano Air Base implemented a ban on its airmen smoking
in uniform in March, and other bases have banned smoking in on-base
dorms. But such moves have never been tried by a major command. AFMC,
headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, includes 10
bases in the States. Among them are Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.,
Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and Hill Air
Force Base in Utah.
The first phase of the AFMC program, Sasser said, is banning tobacco use
by personnel in uniform. Bans in dorms and government housing would
follow, with the final phase being the elimination of such products on
base.
The plan drew decidedly mixed reactions at Aviano on Friday.
“That sucks,” said Staff Sgt. Joe Barnes with the 31st Communications
Squadron. “I smoke during the duty day. Smoking is the only chance I get
to go outside and take a break.”
“I think it’s great,” said Tech. Sgt. William Dellick of the 31st
Maintenance Operations Squadron. “It’s a bad image.”
“I don’t think it’s right,” said Tech. Sgt. Kent Klotz from the 31st
Logistics Operations Squadron. “It’s not an illegal substance, so people
should be allowed to use it. I don’t think people should be allowed to
smoke in government buildings, but this is different.”
“It’s good,” said Senior Airman Matt Marquardt, also from the 31st LRS.
“I don’t smoke. I think it’s stupid. It impairs the mission when people
take 50 smoke breaks a day. It should have been done 10 years ago.”
Sasser estimated about 27 percent of airmen use tobacco products. The
service’s goal is to reduce that number to 12 percent within three
years.
“Ultimately, we would like to be smoke-free,” she said.
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Aviano’s program among the best
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — More than three out of four people trying to
give up tobacco products succeed in a base-run program here, making it
one of most successful in the Air Force.
Much of the credit for Aviano’s 78 percent success rate is given to
Senior Airman Jennifer Montiel, who runs the program.
“You have to be intuitive and motivated,” said Lt. Col. Sherry Sasser,
chief of health promotion for the Air Force Surgeon General’s office,
who has taught such programs for more than a decade. “She’s very
motivated.”
“Mainly, it’s her enthusiasm for the class,” said Capt. Mark McElroy,
commander of the base’s Health and Wellness Center.
Montiel, a combat medic who took up smoking at age 11 before quitting a
few years ago at the request of her husband, attributes the program’s
success to one central idea: listen to the customer.
She said early reviews of her class found participants got little or
nothing from slide shows. So they’ve been eliminated. Students said they
did like sharing ideas and solutions with one another. So group meetings
are a central part. Everyone knows the dangers, she said. So she places
little emphasis on that.
“We’re all adults,” she said. “We all know what tobacco causes.”
Montiel, 22, is more than prepared to cite the problems tobacco causes,
if called upon, though. She can rattle off study after study and
statistics galore to anyone willing to listen.
And listen they do. Montiel said she attempts to call every person who’s
been enrolled in her classes each month to check in with them. In some
cases, that includes those who have transferred to other bases. That’s
more than cessation managers are required to do.
She talks with class participants on a one-on-one basis to try to find
out what their “triggers” are — finding out what makes a person want to
use tobacco and when they use it. She said most users fall into very
specific routines. So substituting something else into that routine or
changing the routine generally works.
Her eight-session classes last seven weeks, giving participants a longer
time to quit than the four-week class the base used to use. Two of the
sessions are held in the fourth week when people are required to stop.
Montiel said the best program in the world won’t work if a person
doesn’t want to stop. Her mother, for instance, doesn’t want to give up
the habit, she said. So she’s not pushing the issue.
Unless, of course, Mom decided to sign up for the class.
— Kent Harris
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Larry Scott --
