New Year’s Eve was a night that I will never forget. While most people were out with friends and family ringing in the new year, I was at home regretting what I had done the night before.
That morning I was driving home on B40 after a night of partying with some friends when I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw flashing blue lights. Immediately I knew I was in trouble, and I had committed a serious lack of judgment. I pulled over and waited for the directions from the security forces personnel.
They asked me if I had been drinking and if I would summit to a field sobriety test. I failed the tests and was taken to the German and American police stations for processing.
After all the processing was completed, they contacted my first shirt and supervisor who had to come and pick me up. For the rest of the weekend, I was a wreck. All the possibilities of consequences went through my mind until I reported in to my commander Monday.
I had worked hard all of my life to get to where I was prior to Dec. 31. One bad decision took it all away. As part of my punishment, I lost a stripe. Although receiving a reduction in rank hurt very much, the thing that bothered me the most was the trust and respect that I had lost from my fellow peers and leaders. I will be able to recover from this incident but it will take a lot of hard work and determination on my part. Going from the NCO to Airman tier was a big change. I was fulfilling NCO responsibilities and was relieved of all those duties when I lost my stripe.
I am reminded every morning when I wake up and go to work what I have done. Instead of getting in my vehicle and heading to work, I get into a taxi. Although all I want to do is move on and put all of this behind me, I am constantly reminded of what I have done. Every time I use my military ID with my new rank, I am reminded of the terrible mistake I made. It prevents me from making the same mistake again.
I’m writing this story to help get the point across to anyone who would even consider driving after having just one drink. There are many alternatives. I know for a fact that anyone who I work with or for would have been more than happy to come pick me up. I know my supervisor would have rather picked me up downtown than at the police station. I could have called my wingman, a taxi or Airmen Against Drunk Driving.
One of the last lines on my Article 15 reads “You have brought disgrace upon yourself and discredit upon the United States Air Force.” When I look back at this, that statement could not be more right. From here on out, I will always have to live with the mistake I made and know that not only did I lose the respect and trust of my unit, but also of the United States Air Force.
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News for the Ramstein, Kaiserslautern, Landstuhl & Baumholder military communities in Germany 
New Year’s Eve was a night that I will never forget. While most people were out with friends and family ringing in the new year, I was at home regretting what I had done the night before.
That morning I was driving home on B40 after a night of partying with some friends when I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw flashing blue lights. Immediately I knew I was in trouble, and I had committed a serious lack of judgment. I pulled over and waited for the directions from the security forces personnel.
They asked me if I had been drinking and if I would summit to a field sobriety test. I failed the tests and was taken to the German and American police stations for processing.
After all the processing was completed, they contacted my first shirt and supervisor who had to come and pick me up. For the rest of the weekend, I was a wreck. All the possibilities of consequences went through my mind until I reported in to my commander Monday.
I had worked hard all of my life to get to where I was prior to Dec. 31. One bad decision took it all away. As part of my punishment, I lost a stripe. Although receiving a reduction in rank hurt very much, the thing that bothered me the most was the trust and respect that I had lost from my fellow peers and leaders. I will be able to recover from this incident but it will take a lot of hard work and determination on my part. Going from the NCO to Airman tier was a big change. I was fulfilling NCO responsibilities and was relieved of all those duties when I lost my stripe.
I am reminded every morning when I wake up and go to work what I have done. Instead of getting in my vehicle and heading to work, I get into a taxi. Although all I want to do is move on and put all of this behind me, I am constantly reminded of what I have done. Every time I use my military ID with my new rank, I am reminded of the terrible mistake I made. It prevents me from making the same mistake again.
I’m writing this story to help get the point across to anyone who would even consider driving after having just one drink. There are many alternatives. I know for a fact that anyone who I work with or for would have been more than happy to come pick me up. I know my supervisor would have rather picked me up downtown than at the police station. I could have called my wingman, a taxi or Airmen Against Drunk Driving.
One of the last lines on my Article 15 reads “You have brought disgrace upon yourself and discredit upon the United States Air Force.” When I look back at this, that statement could not be more right. From here on out, I will always have to live with the mistake I made and know that not only did I lose the respect and trust of my unit, but also of the United States Air Force.