Partied too much to drive? Call 481-RIDE

  • Published
  • By Amn Jeremy Wentworth
  • 97 Amw Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Oklahoma --  It’s Friday night, you went out to party and told yourself you were only going to have one drink. A few drinks later, you’re in no shape to drive home. Now, who are you going to call?

No, the Ghostbusters won’t help you, but Airmen Against Drunk Driving will give you a hand.

Airmen from Altus Air Force base have the ability to sign up for AADD, which is a volunteer force with the intent to eliminate drunk driving.

Airmen sign up to be on call for a night. Once a fellow Airman gets too drunk to drive, they call AADD and the volunteer drives to the Airman’s location and brings them back to the Airman’s residence.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Paul Tejano, 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron quality assurance evaluator, is the assistant director for AADD on Altus AFB. Once a volunteer, Tejano took the opportunity as an NCO to give more to a program that he was familiar with.

“I was an avid volunteer when I was an Airman,” said Tejano. “As an Airman I was out there making sure my friends and my peers were safe when they would go out and drink. Now as an NCO I get the opportunity to help out and be assistant director.”

Tejano gets joy from the ability to help others who are in need of assistance.

“I like that we are here to help our fellow Airmen,” said Tejano. “I know it only takes one mistake, an Airman can go out and decide to drive after they party or drink. It’s good for us to inform the rest of the wing to ensure they know that we are here to support them and we are here to provide help, if they need to they can just call 481-RIDE.”

The program is completely volunteer based. In addition to the volunteer drivers from the base, the community pitches in to ensure the program goes smoothly as possible.

“We have Armed Services YMCA who helps us with the maintenance and fuel with the vehicle,” said Tejano. “They’re the ones who make sure that we have the vehicle for use for AADD.”

Help from the community doesn’t end there, the community has joined together to even give volunteer Airmen free pizza.

“Initially when Airmen would volunteer, they would ask us if they could get a snack or anything,” said Tejano. “We coordinated with Pizza Hut and told them that we have folks on AADD on weekends and asked if there was anything they could assist us with. They offered a free pizza to volunteers on Fridays and Saturdays.”

The program is absolutely free and open to anyone who works or lives on base.

“AADD is a nonprofit organization, we are here to support our DoD members,” said Tejano. “ID holders, dependents, civilians, family members, retirees and active duty force.”

The goal of AADD in its simplest form is to save lives, and to help Airmen have a safe and fun weekend.

Airmen who want to volunteer as drivers can contact Tejano at 481-6037 or send him an email.

“AADD is a great opportunity,” said Tejano. “You are here to make sure your fellow wingmen are safe. We are doing this for Altus.”

Just remember; if you ever need help, a drive home is only a call to 481-RIDE away.