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JASON HALL: My name is Jason Hall. I’m Master-At-Arms, Second Class. I am stationed in San Diego,
California, Command Navy Region Southwest. When a new person comes to the boathouse,
they come to me, into my section, and I show them, from the beginning to the end, how to
become a fully-trained safe coxswain. I think February of 2011, about two years
ago, two and a half years ago, had been drinking heavily throughout the day. And it was a normal
thing, just drink when you were off work, for me. During the day, I had been drinking
all day, I was going through some things, some issues, and, obviously, it’s not good
to drink when you’re going through something. So instead of, you know, stopping at a good
time or not drinking at all that day, I continued to drink. And later on that night, I had to
try to sleep it off. But I had all, you know, that alcohol in my system. So, of course,
when I woke up, it was, you know, still in my system. And I tried to drive after I had
woken up, and I hit two pylons. And before I was able to pull over, the police was already
behind me. They did the breathalyzer on me. After my incident, I was told to go to a DAPA
right away, who, at the time, was Chief Darity. PHILLIP DARITY: When I did speak to MA2 Jason
Hall, I got a impression of, “This sailor is very concerned about this matter. He wants
it to be resolved. And he’s concerned about his career in the Navy.”
JASON HALL: I actually have two more payments for my fine. It was a fine of $2,000. I had
a DUI class I had to attend, California State DUI class, mandatory; $1,400 for that. Paid
$1,900 for a lawyer. Altogether, I paid about $7,000 for this DUI. Most expensive night
out ever. I had to return to work a few days later, or a day later. All these different
people looking at you a certain way. And it wasn’t easy. I hit rock bottom. It was a
period of depression. After my incident, I was told to go to a DAPA right away, and I
think it was actually helpful. Even if you don’t have an incident, if you feel, I think,
you have any type of a alcohol problem, or you just drink too much, more than -- more
than you should, then it’s worth, you know, checking yourself in.
PHILLIP DARITY: I think, genuinely, he felt like he did make a mistake, and he wanted
to own up to the mistake and obviously make amends to what had happened. He consistently
comes to me to look for other ways to reach out to sailors to educate them on the dangers
and consequences of driving under the influence. JASON HALL: Since the incident, I think I’ve
focused my other -- or my energies towards biking. I cycle a lot. I cycle to and from
work now. It’s actually really relaxing. I get to work and I feel refreshed. And I
have my dog. He’s -- [laughs] -- he’s a handful, but he’s definitely something
that keeps me busy and something that I can put my focus on other than going out all the
time and partying. Cooking relaxed me, definitely, because I’m able to just put everything
away, out of my mind, and just focus on what I’m doing, just the food, and making the
food really good. I think now, after this incident, I’ve felt
a responsibility to tell oncoming younger sailors, ***, people newer to the Navy,
“Be careful.” I tell people -- that incident, I don’t like talking about it all the time.
But I tell people, like friends, and, I don’t know, my family, so that the same thing doesn’t
happen to them. I actually get upset when I see people making the same mistakes that
I did and having the thought that it won't be them. I used to think the same thing, that
it wouldn’t be me, and it definitely was me.
When I was sitting at the back of the police car, everything flashed in front of my eyes.
I thought about losing everything: my career, respect at work, my family’s respect, my
parents, my brother and sister, my friends. It was a tough situation to deal with.
[end of transcript]