NAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 2010 23
● Someone to watch over you... WO Dave
Pottle (right) and CPO Mick Kingston make sure
HMS Cornwall is where she should be in Grand
Harbour, Malta, before they carry out their visit
Picture: Mike Gray
Testing times for frigate
Drug misuse brings with it health, crime and social
issues, but in a military context it could jeopardise
many lives and the safety of a ship or aircraft.
An education programme regularly warns sailors of
the dangers of drug abuse, but there is still a need to
weed out those who do not heed the warnings.
Mike Gray joined WO Dave Pottle and CPO Mick
Kingston, the RN’s Compulsory Drugs Testing (CDT)
team, when they targeted HMS Cornwall in Malta.
Pictures: CMEM Ian Atkinson, except where stated.
TWO SENIOR rates
to sail, so there was no leave to be
particular island for an hour and
climb on board a warship
disrupted.
a half before we were offered
The seeds for the visit were sown
drugs.”
and ask to speak to the
weeks before, and the planning
That does not mean the pair are
commanding officer.
began in the CDT office in West
familiar faces to cabin crew on the
Battery on Whale Island.
One of them, a warrant
Caribbean air routes.
There Dave and Mick sketch
“We do not want to be
officer, politely informs the
out a programme which will see
predictable,” said Dave.
captain that no one is to
them test around a third of the
Naval Service every year.
“We might do a small-scale test
leave the ship and that the
A number of factors dictate
of 20-30 people somewhere, then
brow is now closed. which ship, establishment or unit
return a few days later and do
“The team has the authority
will be visited.
the rest.”
to go to any ship or unit
For obvious reasons the team
The CDT team is the sting
worldwide to carry out
do not want their modus operandii
in the tail of the Navy’s drug
compulsory drugs testing,”
splashed all over the paper, but
policy, which is heavily-geared
there are some clues.
towards prevention rather than
said WO1 Dave Pottle.
Has the ship visited a drugs ‘hot-
prosecution.
“I set my own agenda. Am I
spot’ or is such a visit scheduled?
One colleague, MAA Robbie
● LLogs (CS(P)) Piggy Davies checks his sealed drugs test pack in front of WO Dave Pottle, watched
taking the pee? Yes, I am.”
Has it been a while since the
Robinson, is almost constantly on
by collecting assistants PO Moysie Moyes (standing) and CPO Jacko Jackson, while monitor AB
Or, to be more accurate, Dave
ship or base was last tested?
the road in the UK, touring units
Shabaka Kenyatta (partly hidden) keeps an eye on proceedings
and his colleague, CPO Mick
Or is someone uneasy about
and establishments to deliver an
Kingston, are there to get the
the activities of certain shipmates
educational message about the
team intend to visit,” said Dave. fully compos mentis at all times. Skyhawks streaked past on their
ship’s company to take the pee out
on board?
dangers (to health and career
“The ship also gets an education Dave, who joined the CDT way to attack the RFAs.
of themselves.
“We get request tests – if any
prospects) of drug misuse in the pack with posters and leaflets. team in November 2008, was a On another occasion he was
That is the sort of clout wielded
commanding officer thinks that
Services. “It is a high-profile event so that young air mechanic when the asked to accompany an Argentine
by the Compulsory Drugs Testing
something’s going on, or they are
Regular attendance at such they can all see the kit going on Falklands Conflict started, and aviator who had ejected during a
(CDT) team, whose job it is to
concerned, they ask us to come
presentations is compulsory for board, and we try to get junior rates found himself face-to-face with bombing attack, snapping both
ensure the Royal Navy is as near
and see them,” said Dave.
everyone every three years. to help as it makes them aware.” some harsh realities of war. of his legs.
a drugs-free organisation as is
“We do try to plan our
When a ship is preparing for a “And even if we do not manage In June 1982 he was on board Dave recalls his horror at the
humanly possible.
programme as much as possible,
long deployment, the CDT team to get out to visit the ship, it will a helicopter which left RFA Sir state of the flyer’s legs, which
Having got the pee jokes out
but we do get a few fastballs.”
invariably makes a high-profile have had a deterrent effect, and Galahad off Fitzroy just minutes showed signs of serious damage,
of the way – for future reference,
The team are always happy
visit with its drugs-testing kit. hopefully they will have kept clear before the devastating Argentine as they headed for the Falklands
they have indeed heard every
to hear from anyone who does
“We try to make sure that Daily of drugs,” added Mick. attack which killed 48 men, field hospital.
possible variation on that
harbour such concerns, and see
Orders on the ship highlights the Both men are affable and many of them Welsh Guards –
Mick, who joined Dave in May
particular theme – the work of
it as a healthy sign that Navy
fact that the kit is going on board, measured, but they have seen for Dave’s helicopter was forced to
last year, was involved in a very
the team is not, on the face of it,
personnel back the official policy
and that at some point the CDT themselves why sailors need to be take avoiding action as the enemy
different struggle – the effort
a barrel of laughs. rather than turn a blind eye for the
to save HMS Nottingham from
But approached in the right sake of the ship.
way, and with a willing ‘victim’, “I do not think finding
The ABC of illegal drugs
sinking when she ran aground on
Wolf Rock off Australia in 2002,
their visit need only be feared by someone who uses drugs tarnishes
when the ship’s company swiftly
those with something to hide. the reputation of a ship or her THE Compulsory Drugs Test test regime covers in 2008-09 stood at 10.1 per cent in the adult
and efficiently used damage
HMS Cornwall, alongside in commanding officer,” said Dave. Class A, B and C drugs, as well as certain population (aged 16-59).
control training to stabilise the
Malta on her way back from anti- “You only need one bad apple prescription medicines and now former so-called Among 16 to 24 year olds the use of illicit drugs
destroyer in difficult conditions.
piracy patrols off East Africa, is as to cause a problem. ‘legal highs’. in the same period was 22.6 per cent.
“Every single person is a vital
close to a typical CDT visit as you “But the well-known drugs Class A includes ecstasy, heroin, LSD, cocaine, Although RN statistics are gathered in a different
part of the ship’s intricate working
are likely to find – and the ship’s hotspots are an obvious target. crack, magic mushrooms and amphetamines fashion – positive test results rather than self-
system, because ships today are so
response was good-natured. In some parts of South America, prepared for injection; Class B includes declaration – the figure is around 0.4 per cent.
lean-manned,” said Dave.
That was in part down to the southern Africa and the Caribbean amphetamines and cannabis, while Class C For RN policy on substance misuse, refer to JSP
“If you lose one person, you
fact that the visit did not eat into you can get cocaine at 30p a time includes tranquilizers, GBH and steroids. 835 (Alcohol and Substance Misuse Policy and
can lose a team – that’s the way I
any run ashore; testing took place – Class A drugs are everywhere. According to Home Office statistics, declared Testing) and PLAGOS 0501 (Substance Misuse
look at it.
on the day that the ship was due “We had only been on one overall level of any illicit drug use in the UK admin procedures), and RNTM 196/09 also refers. marina Continued on p24
023-025_NN_feb.indd 1 20/1/10 16:43:30
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