Downtown Ft. Carson Patrols Help Soldiers Stay Out of Trouble

Fort Carson soldiers are looking out for their own, and not just on the battlefield.

Every weekend, top leadership from the Mountain Post patrols downtown Colorado Springs, helping soldiers who’ve had too much to drink stay out of trouble and get a safe ride home.

“The idea is to get a leadership role downtown, because a lot of soldiers do come down to the entertainment district,” said First Lt. Bret Guglielmi.

They’re called courtesy patrols and consist of six uniformed soldiers who walk up and down Tejon Street for several hours every Friday and Saturday night, and additional nights when there’s a long weekend or certain holidays.

The patrols have two vans that make trips to and from Fort Carson throughout the night, dropping off soldiers. As they walk the streets, patrol members will step in if a soldier has gotten kicked out of a bar or seems to be having a problem.

“We can help them back to the barracks, we can de-escalate situations if that’s necessary,” said Guglielmi. “We’re here to help the soldier.”

Guglielmi told TARGET 13 that patrol members would not step into the middle of a fight, and if a soldier did not identify himself as being from Fort Carson, that person would be left alone. Soldiers have to show military ID before getting a ride.

These patrols aren’t volunteers. This is a four-hour duty that troops from different units are assigned to, rain or shine, or, like the night TARGET 13 joined the patrols, during below-freezing temperatures.

“It’s just another duty that we do. It’s just more work,” said Guglielmi, when asked if soldiers had any resentment about the assignment.

Like all work by the military, these patrols are funded by taxpayers. People TARGET 13 spoke with downtown had mixed opinions about them.

“I think it’s extremely beneficial,” said Brittaney Edsall, a former service member. “People don’t realize the pressure that service members are under 24/7. You have to be ready to go all the time, so when they come to blow off a little steam it can be out of hand, and it’s nice that other soldiers are here to identify and help.”

But others wondered if this was the best use of taxpayer funds and military personnel.

“I do think that the concept kind of endorses, it’s OK to drink too much and you have a safe way out without really being responsible for what you’re doing,” said Joel Thielen.

Fort Carson officials told TARGET 13 that the cost for the courtesy patrols has been about $5,000 since the program started in the summer of 2010. That includes costs for things like cell phones and gas, but not the hours logged by the soldiers, who are top-level leaders at Fort Carson.

TARGET 13 asked whether the patrols could be enabling soldiers to drink too much and be irresponsible.

“My office receives the data at the end of the week, and we review the logs and see how many rides we’ve given,” said Master Sgt. Ryan Fritz. “So far, I haven’t seen the same names, and the volume isn’t that high maybe seven in one night, five the next night. So, I dont think soldiers are abusing it.”

On the Friday night we went out with the patrol, 18 soldiers got rides home, and, according to Ft. Carson, only one had used the service before.

Colorado Springs police told TARGET 13 that the courtesy patrols have been an asset to officers on the weekend nights.

“The Fort Carson courtesy patrol has been critical in reducing the number of soldiers who become victims and get involved in criminal activity and reducing DUIs,” said CSPD Lt. Maggie Santos.