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***image1***The 431st Air Base Group had a strategy – 30-minute increments of eight people running at one time during the U.S. Army Garrison Kaisers- lautern’s Red Ribbon Relay held Oct. 25 at the track near the Vogelweh Commissary.
And, it worked. The team’s total was 600 laps, or about 150 miles at the three-hour event.
“It’s a one-team-one-fight operation – Soldiers, Airmen and civilians – to show folks there are alternatives to drugs,” said Chief Master Sgt. Dale Brocious, 431st ABG superintendent. “It’s a great thing to come out and show awareness.”
The 431st ABG is the first Air Force unit to participate in the relay.
This is the second year the garrison’s Army Substance Abuse Program has sponsored the event in support of Red Ribbon Week – a national observance that encourages everyone in the community to take a visible stand against drugs, alcohol and tobacco.
“Everybody was here. It was awesome,” said Heather Robinson, the garrison’s ASAP coor-dinator, who initiated this relay as a way to get the whole KMC involved.
A record number of 630 Soldiers, Airmen, retirees, civilians and their family members from 13 agencies and units ran a combined total of 10,044 laps or about 2,500 miles. This is more than double the number of people who parti-cipated last year.
“I really liked the family and unit cohesion that was here today,” said Staff Sgt. KaMesha Edwards, from the garrison’s pass office, and who brought her three children to the event. “This (USAG Kaiserslautern) is an awesome unit – to be so small – and the way we got together to do this event – I think it’s awesome.”
Close to 70 community members volunteered, and there were 14 information and food booths – both an increase from last year.
“The relay fits into (Red Ribbon Week) as a community effort – a grassroots program – that all these local agencies combine their efforts to show manpower on the track, reinforcing the message of a drug-free community,” Ms. Robinson said.
The 5th Quartermaster Company won unit trophies for most laps and participants. The unit’s 85 Soldiers, civilians and family members ran 2,334 laps or about 583 miles, keeping the beat of loud cadence of “Airborne” – the unit’s motto.
A new award this year was given to the unit that had the most average laps per runner. The first unit to receive this award was the 39th Transportation Battalion with each participant running an average of 14.8 laps. The 53rd Signal Battalion had only 10 participants but, with 13-laps-per-person, still took home second place.
Also new this year were individual awards given to the male and female who ran the most laps in eight age categories. A total of 16 individual trophies were awarded at the event.
The Red Ribbon campaign was started when drug traffickers in Mexico City murdered Kiki Camarena, an undercover drug enforcement officer in 1985. Within weeks of his death, Special Agent Camarena’s Congressman and a high school friend launched Camarena Clubs in his hometown of Imperial Valley, Calif. The tradition of making pledges to lead drug-free lives and wearing red badges of satin – red ribbons – as a symbol of Special Agent Camarena’s memory was created at these clubs.
Eventually, Red Ribbon Week became a nationally-recognized observance to honor Special Agent Camarena and reduce demand for drugs through prevention and education programs.
For more information on National Red Ribbon Week, visit
www.red-ribbon-week.org.
