‘That Guy:’ 4 skits to show at Dover AFB

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  A team of Airmen actors from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. will be on Dover Air Force Base Tuesday and Wednesday, performing 90-minute skits about 'That Guy.'

'That Guy' is a Department of Defense campaign designed to discourage binge drinking among young servicemembers.

The skits are open to all of Team Dover and mandatory for members ages 18 to 24-years old.

"The goal is to warn Airmen about the hazards of binge drinking - it could happen to anyone," said Master Sgt. Kimberly Thrash, 436th Medical Operations Squadron.

The Air Force thespians will perform four presentations here.

Tuesday, there will be performances at 8 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, there will be an 8 a.m. performance.

Creating the skit was a three-month, self-motivated project invented and designed by Senior Airman Monise Butler, 43rd Aeromedical Dental Squadron, Pope AFB.

"I got the idea several months ago when I attended a commander's call here," said Airman Butler from Pope. "It seemed in the weeks after the commander's call, the message and campaign were not catching on with the Airmen."

Since the commander's call anti-binge-drinking campaign wasn't having an immediate impact on others in the way it did on her, Airman Butler decided to take it a step further.

"I thought if I wrote a play to promote the campaign and safe drinking habits, I could further the message," she said.

Months later, she transformed her initial thoughts into a 90-minute parody featuring four Airman as actors and a back-stage crew filled with communication-squadron Airmen.

After hearing of her accomplishment, Col. Steven Harrison, 436th Airlift Wing commander, invited her team to perform here.

"Peer-to-peer relationships are powerful tools for shaping social norms, especially among our younger populations -- the same pool of Airmen most at threat for drug and alcohol abuse," he said.

Team Dover will be the second base to see the 'That Guy' performance. Hopefully, it will reduce any future alcohol-related incidents on the Eagle and Liberty Wings, said the colonel.

According to ADAPT-program records, Team Dover's had 18 driving-under-the-influence incidents and 81 alcohol-related misconducts so far in 2007. Similar trends occurred across the Air Force.

"Unfortunately, much of our society glamorizes the very forms of destructive behavior that are incompatible with military service," said Colonel Harrison. "The purpose of the 'That Guy' program is to provide a forum for peers to communicate to our young Airmen the social realities of overindulging in alcohol without being overly 'preachy.'"

Dover aims to reduce alcohol-related misconduct by 25 percent this year, said Sergeant Thrash. Team Dover is taking proactive action to curb alcohol abuse here.

"I'm grateful to these Airmen from Pope for drawing from their own experiences to demonstrate that those who abuse alcohol, risk social ... as well as physical ... injury," he said. "The only person who can't see it is 'That Guy.'"