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Jersey Guard Hosts D.A.R.E. Camp

By Staff Sgt. Robert W. Stephenson, 444 MPAD

At the head of the four groups, Guardsmen wearing black polo shirts with the National Guard logo, joined with police officers from across the state as they kept the young “troops” in line.

DARE rep speds time with kids

These children weren’t recruits, they were graduates of the sixth-grade Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program and were at Fort Dix for the third annual Summer Leadership Camp. The camp, a joint venture of D.A.R.E. and the Counterdrug Task Force’s Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) program, took place at Fort Dix, Aug. 18 through 22. The Camp provided drug awareness education, in addition to team building, leadership skills, first aid and fire-safety classes, along with sports, games, activities, and a one-day field trip to an Atlantic City Surf minor league baseball game.

“ This is what the National Guard is all about,” said 1st. Lt. Carmen Lugo-Martinez, Drug Demand Reduction Administrator. “While we are helping to keep the communities drug free, we are also ensuring the future of the National Guard in that we are preparing the youth of New Jersey to follow in our footsteps.”