INFORMATION PAPER
PEDA1
February 01
 
 
SUBJECT: Installation Prevention Team Training Course Update
 
1. PURPOSE: To provide information concerning the Installation Prevention Team Training course available through the U.S. Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs.
 
2. FACTS:
  1. BACKGROUND:
     
    1. In 1996, the U.S. Army Center for Substance Abuse Programs (ACSAP) developed a three day Installation Prevention Team Training (IPTT) course designed to apply reengineering approaches to installation-wide prevention and risk reduction efforts. Reengineering, often thought of as downsizing in the current environment, is defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to bring about dramatic improvement in performance. This course represented a prime example of reengineering, adapting an existing Army training course in order to make the content, materials, and course outcomes relevant to the changing Army organization and mission. IPTT evolved into a three-day course which trained installation teams in best practices in community prevention, behavioral risk reduction, and workplace violence; all top Army priorities. Course attendees were 6 to 8 member teams of key personnel, selected by the Installation Commander, who could address and commit resources for installation-wide prevention.
       
    2. IPTT course modules included the History of Prevention, Creating a Vision, Effective Prevention Practices, Risk Reduction, Violence Prevention, Collaboration, Evaluation, and Marketing. Through adult learning approaches and a team building focus, course participants developed collaborative strategies for the prevention of high-risk behaviors, learned and applied the Army’s Risk Reduction Model, and strengthened their total installation prevention efforts.
       
    3. Installation teams developed an integrated Installation Prevention Plan, based upon the needs of their installation, and which included collaborative risk reduction processes. Teams were required to brief their plan to their Installation Commander upon returning from the course. Additional follow-up and technical assistance for prevention plan implementation were available through ACSAP.
       
    4. Advantages of IPTT for installation commanders were: it provided training for the development of installation prevention and risk reduction programs; it offered an off-site, team-oriented collaborative training on state-of-the-art prevention approaches; and it leveraged on existing resources for the development of an installation-wide prevention program.
       
    5. In 1997 a five-day version of IPTT was developed for the National Guard Bureau. This extended course included the original content plus comprehensive information on substance abuse, i.e. pharmacology, etiology, and signs and symptoms of alcohol and other drug abuse; specific processes and lessons learned from the field which were applicable to the Guard population and their particular needs; and an added focus on community, for those Guard members who were active in their local community prevention and drug demand reduction efforts.
       
    6. Critiques of the course averaged 4.3 out of 5.0 in 10 different dimensions on a Likert Rating Scale. Participants had commented specifically on the quality of the materials, curriculum content, presentation of the course modules, and the team training process. The IPTT provided an opportunity for Commanders to be proactive in creating an environment in which the well being of their installation and its members were an integral part of personnel readiness.
       
  2. CURRENT STATE OF THE IPTT PROGRAM:
    1. Since January 1996, ACSAP had conducted twenty-six iterations of IPTT. Cross-discipline teams from sixty-six active duty installations had been trained. Specifically, this included over 600 military and civilian personnel, at all ranks through 06, and civilian grades through GS-14. Activities and organizations represented include Alcohol and Drug, Safety, Equal Employment Opportunity, Provost Marshal, Army Community Service, Civilian Personal Office, Chaplaincy, Preventive Medicine, Social Work Services, Family Advocacy, and Judge Advocate General.
    2. In September 1997, ACSAP conducted an IPTT for the National Guard. Thirty-two members from Army and Air Guard units attended the five-day course. The training was very well received, providing attendees with the opportunity to learn best prevention practices and processes for prevention in their units and communities. In March 1998, a second Guard-sponsored IPTT was delivered to teams from the Puerto Rico National Guard, 65th RSC, FT Buchanan, and USARSO. The training was again well received, scoring at 4.6+ rating on a five-point scale by participants. A unique feature of this particular training was that the five teams developed one common vision for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and then proceeded to develop individual plans to support that common vision, based upon their own organizational missions and goals. In August 1998, a third National Guard IPTT was conducted.
       
    3. In 1999, ACSAP designed a two-day, customized Installation Prevention Team Training Course 2, to reenergize specific prevention teams whose members had changed and whose prevention plans were in need of revision. This modified course included some of the original modules (History of Prevention, Creating a Vision, Effective Prevention Practices, Risk Reduction, Evaluation, Marketing) plus extensive information on substance abuse, i.e. pharmacology, etiology and signs and symptoms of alcohol and other drug abuse. The IPTT 2 Course was delivered for the prevention teams at Fort Hood and Fort Stewart in June and July 1999, respectively. In May 2000, at the request of TRADOC, ACSAP delivered the IPTT 2 Course for all 15 TRADOC installations in three iterations. In addition to the modules presented in the original IPTT2 Course, an additional day of modules on suicide prevention were added to address the critical concern of increasing suicidal ideation and gestures in young soldiers. In September 2000, the same course agenda was presented to Forts Richardson and Wainwright.
       
    4. Based upon the lessons learned from IPTT, this program now represents an exciting opportunity for increased collaboration across military organizational lines to effectively plan and implement comprehensive prevention and risk reduction programs in units and communities.

 

Tracy Washington/703-681-5583