The role of a designated driver, wingman Published Dec. 9, 2008 By Lt. Col. Mark Garney and Sara Bender 354th Fighter Wing Legal Office EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- It's a situation we've all heard or maybe been a part of. A night gone wrong by making one mistake. It's been a long week, but it's finally Friday. Airman Snuffy and his friends are going to go out and have a few drinks. He's not the designated driver, but luckily a friend from the dorms volunteered. He's at the club having a few drinks along with the designated driver who decides a few drinks early in the night won't hurt. What they don't know is it only takes three drinks for an average male to be over the legal limit. Airman Snuffy thinks that his designated driver friend seems fine to drive and gets in the car. They make it to the front gate fine and that's when things get bad. Their car is picked to be randomly searched and the officer suspects the designated driver has been drinking. The designated driver is arrested for DUI and the car load of airmen has to be picked up by the First Sergeant. Several failures have happened. The designated driver has severely misunderstood his role in the evening. A designated driver is the one in the group who isn't supposed to drink at all. Maybe it would be better if a designated driver was called The Guy Who Doesn't Drink So He Can Drive Everyone Else Home (GWDDSHCDEEH). Amn Snuffy has also failed as a wingman and a friend. By letting his designated driver drink and then drive he has badly failed his friend. Now Airman Snuffy's designated driver is facing the possibility of losing a stripe and receiving extra duty and loss of pay among other possible military punishments. That loss of pay will likely make it impossible for him to make the payments on his brand new car, so the dealer will repossess it and he'll be walking. It will also make it hard for him to pay the rest of his bills. Had the designated driver been pulled over off-base, he would have faced a misdemeanor conviction, a minimum of 72 hours in jail and fines of at least $1500 in addition to military punishment that could make testing for that next stripe difficult. Airman Snuffy is lucky his decision to get in the car with an impaired driver didn't cost him his life, but his designated driver will suffer the consequences of his bad decision for a long time. If you're a designated driver (or GWDDSHCDEEH), DON'T DRINK AT ALL! If you're a friend of a GWDDSHCDEEH, help them do their job by not letting them drink, and if they do don't let them drive. Don't die because of a beer, and don't ruin someone's career because of a stupid decision.