Get home alive, PACE yourself Published March 22, 2007 By Master Sgt. Andy Rogers 22nd Training Squadron first sergeant FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- It's Friday night. You've had a very busy week at work. It's time to go out and unwind. You're going to meet some friends and blow off some steam. You've earned this, and so have your friends. Where should you go? Not sure? OK, how are you going to get back from wherever that is? You'll figure it out once you get there, right? Wrong! That is a recipe for disaster. To ensure you and your friends get home safely, PACE yourself. PACE is an acronym that stands for primary, alternate, contingency, emergency. These are four plans that you should have in place before you leave. How do they work? You start with your primary plan that you intend to use. Primary: I am going to use a designated driver. Jimmy will be the designated driver for us tonight. He will not drink and will be our wingman. Oops, Jimmy forgot he was supposed to drive and had a drink. One single part of the primary plan failed. Scrap the entire thing and move onto the alternate. Why take a chance? Alternate: I'll call Mike. He said he was going to be home finishing a paper for his Community College of the Air Force degree. He agreed to be our alternate. Mike's phone is busy because he is online doing research and left his cell phone downstairs in his gym bag. The alternate failed; now move on to the contingency. The contingency plan is to call your flight chief. You call and she is at the hospital with a sick child. Her husband is away on a temporary-duty assignment, and she can't leave. No problem, you've still got options. Go to the emergency plan. Call the Airmen Against Drunk Driving hotline at 247-9999 or call a local taxi company for a ride home. You call them and just like that, you are home safe and sound with a $15 cab fare instead of sitting in jail with a $2,500 DUI conviction. With a little planning and your PACE in place, you are guaranteed to get home safe and alive.
