Recipient: Tennessee National Guard, Smyrna, TN

Amount requested: $4 million

Project description:

The authorization of $4 million to the Tennessee National Guard Counterdrug Task Force will help ensure the program maintains its vital military support to federal, state and local drug law enforcement agencies and community based organizations. During Fiscal Year 2008 Tennessee National Guard personnel reached over 196,000 Tennesseans with a drug awareness / education message and taught over 10,000 students in 95 middle schools statewide with the anti-drug curriculum “Stay on Track.”

Task Force personnel provided criminal analysis and other law enforcement support to agencies across the state resulting in the seizure of over $1.08 billion in illicit drugs and drug related assets. Additionally, the National Guard in support of the Appalachia HIDTA and Tennessee Governor’s Task Force on Marijuana Eradication destroyed over 535,000 cultivated marijuana plants across the state resulting in millions of dollars in illicit drugs not reaching the streets of the state and nation.

The project supports the Tennessee National Guard Counterdrug Task Force Appalachia HIDTA operations on an annual basis. Military personnel and specialized equipment conduct drug demand reduction and supply reduction missions with community based organizations and drug law enforcement agencies.