11 Manas airmen busted on alcohol violation

[unhappycamper]

11 Manas airmen busted on alcohol violation
Staff report
Posted : Tuesday Apr 22, 2008 7:52:42 EDT

Eleven airmen deployed to Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, were handed Article 15 punishments for violating the base’s rules for drinking alcoholic beverages.

The punishments, handed out in March and February, included losing a stripe and loss of up to $1,500 in pay, according to the legal office of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at Manas. The cited airmen, whose names were not released, held the ranks of staff sergeant and senior airman.

While beer and other alcoholic beverages are banned at bases inside Iraq and Afghanistan, airmen at Manas are allowed to drink beer but can’t have more than two beers a day.

An investigation found that at least four airmen had gone into the electronic databases that track how many beers airmen drink and deleted records. A staff sergeant was punished for trying to get around the system the old-fashioned way — asking another airman to buy him a beer.

Inquiries also turned up evidence of airmen sneaking sips of vodka, a hard liquor illegal on the base but easy to find off base.


Article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/04/airforce_beer_busted_manas_042108w/