‘I know my limit; I’m not drunk’ – When you decide to drink, drive, it’s not just yourself you’re letting down

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
Editor's note: This is the last in a four-part series of information and personal stories from those who've somehow been affected by drinking and driving.

John Jones is 35 years old and in the U.S. Air Force. He had a line number for technical sergeant, and was on the last day of his TDY at Fort Bragg, N.C., May 31, 2003, when he was arrested for DUI. 

His driving license was revoked for one year, and his pin-on date was suspended for several months. Because of his actions, Sergeant Jones was worried he would lose his family, friends and career. Thankfully for him, he still has all three. 

Here is his story.

"It was the last day of my TDY at Fort Bragg, N.C., and my replacement was already there," said Tech. Sgt. John Jones, Det. 2, 25th Intelligence Squadron. "We went out together to watch a basketball game - both our teams happened to be playing in the play-offs that day - so I drove to a local restaurant for dinner, so we could watch the game on television. I had a few beers with Dennis (Sergeant Jones' replacement), but I knew I was flying out the next morning so wasn't drinking heavily.

"I had two rather large beers - probably equivalent to around four or five regular-sized beers - with about two dozen wings, as we sat and watched the game. My replacement started drinking very heavily, so it was fortunate I drove - or so I thought."

The two men stayed at the restaurant for about four or five hours. Sergeant Jones then dropped off the other military member at his hotel off base, and began his journey back to Fort Bragg, where he was billeted.

"I was driving on Highway 95 and tried passing a semi-truck on the left, when my front driver's-side tire caught the edge of the road, turning me into the median, making me crash into the guardrail," he said.

Fortunately, he wasn't injured, but it was the middle of the night, and there was nobody else around.

"The truck I'd passed didn't stop, and there wasn't a car in sight," the sergeant said, adding that he waited about 15 minutes before deciding to try and get the car to the next exit, so he could call the authorities.

"It didn't occur to me that the alcohol played a factor in the accident. Why? Because I did the timetable thing: one beer per hour ... I had a good dinner with my beer ... I'm not drunk - all the ignorant things you tell yourself," he said.

Sergeant Jones managed to get the car to a restaurant with a payphone, when he saw a police car just up the road. He said he was still sure alcohol had nothing to do with the accident - it was the rain from earlier that had made the road slick; he'd been speeding a little, and he was tired.

"I used every excuse but the alcohol," he said. "I went up to the officers and told them about my accident; they told me to call the highway patrol, because it happened on the interstate."

He called from the payphone and discovered they'd been searching for him. After telling them exactly where he was, he called the car rental company to let them know about the accident. While he was on the phone, a police officer arrived and started looking over the car.

"The first thing the officer asked me was, 'How much alcohol have you had tonight?' I told him I'd only had two beers with dinner; he then gave me a breathalyzer test, which I took confidently, because I just knew I wasn't drunk," Sergeant Jones said, admitting he now realizes how foolish he was to think that.

Then he heard the words, "You're under arrest for driving under the influence ..."

"I was floored! The police officer cuffed me and put me in the car. On the way to the police station, he said something to me that I'll never forget ... 'You Air Force guys are too smart to do something like this.'"

The technical sergeant said those words struck him to the core. Until that point in his Air Force career, he'd been a model Airman, and had always prided himself on being one of his unit's 'go to' guys. Now he'd put everything in jeopardy.

At the police station Jones took the official breathalyzer test, which registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.11 - six hours after his first beer. He was then booked and had to go in front of a judge, explaining that he was on temporary duty there. When the judge asked him when he was due to leave, Sergeant Jones told him he was supposed to fly out the next day.

But he was stopped in his tracks when the judge told him he was being held on bail for $500, though he had the option of a North Carolina resident signing for his release.

Now he faced a dilemma. His replacement was drunk in his room, so it was no use calling him. And the unit Sergeant Jones was working with wasn't very formal, and there'd been no in-processing, so he had no contact information.

"Fortunately, my brother only lived about an hour away, so I decided to call him, and he left immediately, to come get me. I had to stay in the holding cell until a guard shift change, at about 4 a.m., when I had to be transferred to the actual county jail. They gave me the scratchy orange jumpsuit, and my bed linens, and put me in a cell."

While in both the holding and jail cells, Sergeant Jones had time to contemplate his situation.

"I thought about how my world was over. I thought my wife was going to leave me; my career was done; I'd let everyone I cared about down. But then I had a more frightening thought - about all the countless times before when I'd driven in a much worse state than this," he said. "All the while, I was telling myself, 'I know my limit.'"

In jail, the Airman was able to call his wife and let her know the situation. He also told her he'd understand if she wasn't there when he got back.

"I finally got released about 7 a.m. and found out the delay was due to the informal in-processing at my TDY unit. When the police station contacted them, they had no idea who I was - that meant I was in North Carolina, but stationed in Florida, and was possibly absent without leave.

"They couldn't release me to my brother, who'd been waiting for me since 4:30 a.m. The police finally managed to get hold of someone in the unit who knew me, and then I was released."

He then had to return to base and go to the local first sergeant's office.

"He handed me the phone, and it was my first shirt," Sergeant Jones said. "He asked me if I was OK, and all I kept doing was apologizing. But he told me to just get home safely, and we'd deal with the situation on Monday."

After being released by the first sergeant at Fort Bragg, Sergeant Jones had to change his flight arrangements, so he could return later that day.

"I remember sitting at the gate in the airport and not being able to make eye contact with anyone," he said. "I felt like some kind of monster, who'd betrayed their trust - any one of them could have been on the road when I was, and could have been injured or killed by my actions."

When Sergeant Jones finally got home, ready to face the consequences of his actions, he found his wife waiting for him. She stood by him throughout everything; he lost his driving privileges on base for a year. In order to drive off-base, he had to get a lawyer in North Carolina to take on his case and get back his suspended license - which was only to be used for work, so it pretty much meant no driving at all.

"To get a lawyer, I initially had to pay $1,500, and depending how complex the case was, it could have been higher. I also went to an (Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment) class."

The Air Force had to wait on the outcome of the case before they could give further punishment or discipline. Sergeant Jones had a line number for technical sergeant, and though the charges were eventually dropped on a technicality, it was still an alcohol-related incident and his promotion was delayed. He also was still not able to drive on base.

"But I feel I'm the luckiest Airman in today's Air Force," Sergeant Jones said. "I still have my family, my life and my career."

Sergeant Jones now regularly tells his story as part of the DUI panel at the First Term Airmen's Center, in the hope that young Airmen new to the U.S. Air Force will learn from his mistakes, and make wiser choices for themselves.