The Interservice Drug Enforcement Awareness Exam

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As recent law-enforcement initiatives man­date expanded support roles for the mili­tary, naval personnel find themselves aug­menting Coast Guard efforts on an increas­ing basis. This examination is designed to measure your overall knowledge of mar­itime smuggling and Coast Guard law enforcement.

A. READ THE FOLLOWING SCENARIOS AND SELECT THE MOST CORRECT ANSWER.

(Value: three points each)

1. “It is indeed a large problem for a service as small as ours to undertake. We have been given this job to do, and the way in which we do it is going to have tremendous influence on the future welfare and prestige of the Coast Guard. I have taken the posi­tion here in Washington that the Coast Guard has never fallen down in any task assigned to it, and that we will stop . . . (illegal smuggling) on our coasts if given funds for which we asked. For the honor and prestige of the service, we must not fail, and we will not fail.”

This quote is attributed to:

a)       Admiral F. C. Billard, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard (1924)

b)      Mr. Claxton Hootch, Senior Janitor, Coast Guard Headquarters (1992)

c)       Seaman Lance LaFlame, leading mess cook, USCGC Vindictive (1993)

d)      Graffiti in the men’s restroom, Pentagon subway station (1991)

2. During the onslaught of Hurricane Floyd in 1987, a man was pulled from the 35-foot vessel Lady Fun which was floundering in eight-foot seas. Later, the

Coast Guard relocated the vessel and after towing it to Station Fort Lauderdale, discovered that the vessel was carrying 584 pounds of cocaine.

On the following day, the owner:

a)       Attempted to make a significant contribution to the Coast Guard’s Mutual Assistance and Wel­fare Fund

b)      Completed his doctoral thesis in applied thermo­nuclear physics

c)       Proceeded to the Coast Guard Station to claim his vessel and cargo

3. The New York Times proclaimed that the “Coast Guard was declaring open warfare” on maritime smugglers after which President made a statement that amounted to a declaration of war against those engaged in maritime smuggling?

a)       Juan Valdez Jorge Fidel Gonzalez, President of the local chapter of the Coast Guard League in Medillian, Colombia (1992)

b)      President Bush at the 1992 Republican Convention

c)       President Calvin Coolidge in his 1924 inaugural address

d)      "Knuckles” Frobish, President of the Brother­hood of United Dope Growers, Entrepreneurs, and Traffickers (B.U.D.G.E.T.)

4. Warning shots across the bow stopped a suspi­cious vessel just off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. A boarding was conducted, and when contraband was found, the two crewmen were placed under arrest. One of the crewman attacked the boarding party, killing two Coast Guardsmen and another federal agent. Another Coast Guardsman was seriously wounded. The suspects were finally subdued and

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d) Insisted that he was acting on orders from the CIA, who was holding his mother-in-law hostage

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token to trial. One of the suspects was convicted of Murder and taken to the Coast Guard Base at Fort Lauderdale, where he was hanged.

This incident occurred:

a)                In Tom Clancy’s latest novel

b)                During enforcement of Prohibition (1927)

c)       During a 1992 combined federal drug sweep called “Roach Trap”

d)                In the author’s imagination

?• The vessel Encounter Bay was hailed by the Coast Guard after being spotted underway with no toitional ensign. The ship finally hove to after a hitter fired 60 rounds of disabling fire into its en­title room.

This incident:

a)                Satisfied quarterly gunnery exercise requirements

b)      Confirmed suspected armor-piercing tendencies of hot projectiles

c)       Is a scene from the movie entitled "Drug Running ... It’s not just a Job, it’s an Adventure"

d)                Yielded 72 tons of marijuana

^COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES NlTH THE CHOICE you BELIEVE IS MOST Correct, (note.- some questions may have

WRE THAN ONE ANSWER.)

(Value: three points each)

*L Presently, the illicit drug problem in the United ^States is:

a)                A $240 billion problem (annually)

b)                Easily solved by legalization

c)                 Solvable through massive interdiction efforts

d)      Problem? Totally rad and awesome, man . . . like, what problem, Dude???

} In 1981, the Coast Guard spent $226 million on J'v enforcement missions. By the end of the decade, service’s annual “drug war” budget consisted of:

a)       Revenues gained from auctioning off old LORAN A stations

b)                Profits made from garage sales

c)       Approximately $550 million (or 27% of its total budget)

d)                Congressional promissory notes

e)                 All of the above

In 1987, the Coast Guard captured and seized:

a)                The hearts of millions

h) A lot of raw data illegally dumped in Chesapeake Bay

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c)       A Japanese midget submarine whose crew was unaware that World War II had ended in 1945

d)      $3 billion in illegal drugs

9.     The Coast Guard’s degree of commitment in com­bating maritime smuggling and its relative successes in the 1980s resulted in:

a)       The eternal gratitude of office-seeking politicians

b)      Congressional budget cuts of over $70 million, for a total fiscal shortfall of over $100 million

c)       Worn equipment and tired (but proud) crews

d)      Congressional promises for increased fiscal support

10.     “__________ ” is a statement that applies

equally to enforcement of Prohibition in the 1920s and modern-day efforts in narcotics interdiction.

a)       Without necessary social and judicial reform, inter­diction alone cannot solve the problem

b)      The vast expanse of territory to be surveilled and the numbers of vessels to be boarded make en­forcement prohibitive

c)       Smugglers are well equipped, immune from self- imposed restraints (i.e. regulations), and operate with enormous financial backing

d)      A large public demand for illicit substances will predictably result in a large supply

e)       All of the above

C. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING TRUE-OR-FALSE QUESTIONS BY MARKING THE APPROPRIATE CHOICE.

(Value: one point each)

11.     Between 1973 and 1987, the Coast Guard seized 1,506 vessels, 36 million tons of illicit narcotics, and arrested 7,281 people.

True False____________

12.     The entire Coast Guard (and its operating budget) is smaller than the New York City Police Department.

True False____________

13.     In order to meet expanded law enforcement com­mitments, the Coast Guard’s personnel strength has increased by 1,000 since 1972.

True False____________

14.     The Coast Guard is the 12th largest navy, the 7th largest naval air force, and the largest coast guard in the entire world.

True False____________

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