History

The Wisconsin National Guard Drug Control Program has facilitated youth through our various low ropes courses since 1995. Our low ropes program was established through a partnership between the National Guard and the Alliance for a Drug Free Wisconsin.

The partnership created our Outdoor Course located at Volk Field in Camp Douglas, WI. One year later four mobile low ropes courses were created to meet the needs of customers who could not travel to Volk Field. These mobile courses could reach youth anywhere in the state.

In 2000 the Wisconsin National Guard Drug Control Program was presented with our first Secretary of Defense’s Community Drug Awareness Award. This award is in recognition of outstanding command efforts to educate military members of the dangers of drug abuse and to appreciate the benefits of a drug-free life. This includes their families and the broader communities in which they serve. The Wisconsin National Guard Drug Control Program was presented this award again in 2003. There is only one award presented annually to the National Guard.

In 2002 our program implemented a standard optical-mark reader survey which uses a scientific research-based evaluation to measure effectiveness and changes in student perception of alcohol and drug use.

Our program’s popularity continued to grow throughout the state. In 2003 we facilitated 185 mobile and outdoor events and reached 16,995 Wisconsin youth in grade’s 5 – 12. We also created a website to help assist our expanding customer base.

A new national strategic plan in 2004 caused us to redefine our program and target youth in grades 5th, 7th and 9th.Our program transitioned to work with an entire school district instead of one school within one district. Our program also received a name change – Leadership Education Adventure Program, or LEAP.

That same year we also formed a partnership with the READY Initiative to build the Leadership Development Course at Volk Field. This state-of-the-art, 12 event concrete facility is similar to a military leadership reaction course used to develop teams based on trust. Five of the events are situated above a three-foot deep pool. Construction of the facility was completed in September 2005.

In 2005 our program created a handbook to assist in facilitating and updated our website.

In 2008 we redesigned our website with an online request form and an integrated calendar. These changes will help inform our customers and streamline the request process.

Our program has many more future initiatives that will allow us to better serve Wisconsin youth and help them combat drugs and alcohol.