Substance Abuse

Substance Abuse

Prevention, Treatment and Outreach (PTO)

What We Can Do For Service Members

Our program’s priorities are to prevent substance abuse and addiction and to provide treatment resources to those suffering from addiction.  If a service member begins to abuse substances or develops an addiction they can:

• Self-refer to the PTO coordinator
• Be protected from negative action under the limited use policy
• Access available treatment resources
• Have the participation in the program kept confidential between PTO coordinator, unit commander, and treatment provider.
• Note: Service member cannot have a positive drug test 

In October 2007, the Prevention, Treatment and Outreach (PTO) initiative was established through a directive from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to provide prevention training, outreach to military families, and treatment resources to all National Guard members to increase military discipline, individual performance, combat readiness, and retention.

PTO works to reduce stigma and focuses on the "humanistic mission." Through prevention planning we identify high risk target groups and focus multiple prevention strategies and resources to increase protective factors (resiliency) and decrease risk factors. Further, the program assists commanders and service members through various types of identification methods and provides support and guidance throughout the assistance pathways.

At Risk Drinking Levels:

• For men: more than 4 drinks a day or more than 14 drinks a week
• For women: more than 3 drinks a day or more than 7 drinks a week
• For individuals 65 and over: more than 1 drink a day
• Binge Drinking:
  • 4 or more drinks for females in one sitting 
  • 5 or more drinks for males in one sitting

Self-Screening Tools:

Recovery Tools