Military message to young people: Don’t smoke, kick butts

Wednesday morning, winds gusted up to 40 mph, but by 4 p.m., the weather cooperated and the Montana Army National Guard 1970 OH-58 "Jet Ranger" helicopter circled above the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line twice and landed gracefully on the blacktop playground. Jay Schuschke, HELP Committee prevention specialist, was in charge of planning this landing followed by an anti-tobacco program. "This is the second time we have held the Drug Demand Reduction Program," said Schuschke. "When we first did this two years ago, we had the largest single-day attendance at our club." This year the Boys & Girls Club coordinated the presentation with the annual Kick Butts Day event, a nationwide program devoted to preventing children from starting the tobacco habit by educating them about the health hazards of tobacco use. "The national Kick Butts Day this year was on March 24, however, due to inclement weather, we pushed ours back a bit to facilitate the outdoors por t ion of thi s presentat ion, " Schuschke said. He said Kick Butts Day is an attempt to get to the core of the problem; tobacco statistics show that 90 percent of tobacco users started before the age of 18. "The nicotine in tobacco is considered a gateway drug," Schuschke said. "This means that tobacco may be the first addiction for a person, but it may eventually lead to further addictions to other substances." Bringing in the Army National Guard's team is a tactic used by 60 schools and clubs every year to help draw children's attention to drug and alcohol education. The three-person crew consisted of presenter Tech. Sgt. Caressa Hewitt of Great Falls, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Pilot Keith Banning of Helena and Chief Warrant Officer 3 and Pilot Victor Vincent also of Helena. The three Guard members volunteered for the assignment. Both pilots stayed with the aircraft while Hewitt gave a presentation to the kids. Her show consisted of a Power Point presentation. Before the copter landed, the crowd waited in anticipation for the helicopter to arrive. "It's something fun, because it's a special day," said Ascencio Duran, 8. During the presentation, the children learned of the dangerous chemicals in tobacco products and a basic lesson in what addiction is like. "On the count of three, everyone hold their breath," said Hewitt. After a few seconds Hewitt told everyone to breathe again. "When you held your breath, your brain was telling you to breathe. That Your body needs air, right?" Hewitt asked. "That's what it's like for the people you know who are addicted. Their brain tells them they need to go have a cigarette, and the need feels as strong as when your brain told you to breathe." After Hewitt's presentation, the children all filed back to the playground to get a closer look at the helicopter sitting on the blacktop. Before flying away, the pilots walked the children around the aircraft while explaining the different aspects of the equipment some of which is used when Banning is assisting task force, local law enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency in the search for everything from missing hikers to illegal substances growing in yards or fields. The anti-tobacco message got across to the crowd. "Tobacco, never try it; even once. Don't get addicted," Alexis F l a n s b u r g , 1 0 , S ammi e Lovenguth, 7, Samy Huston, 11, Jazzamyn Benson, 10, and RayAn Vandenbos, 11, said in unison. When asked what the best part of the presentation was, Sammie Lovenguth answered, "The balls (Hewitt) gave away when you asked a question." Devin George, 7, even thought the whole thing was "cool."