DEA Presents Award to Gettysburg Young Marines

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Young Marines, a national youth organization, announce the Young Marines unit winners of the Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Award. The award honors six units, one award per division, for drug demand reduction efforts through community education and peer-to-peer role modeling.

The official announcement took place at the Young Marines’ Annual Adult Leaders Conference on Friday, May 7 in Las Vegas.

The winners are:

• Division One – Gettysburg Young Marines in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• Division Two – LCpl Caleb John Powers Young Marines in Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Division Three – Milton Lewis Young Marines in Gainesville, Florida
• Division Four – Casper Mountain Young Marines in Casper, Wyoming
• Division Five – Miami Valley Young Marines in Huber Heights, Ohio
• Division Six – Miramar Young Marines in San Diego, California

“DEA is proud to honor the memory of Special Agent Camarena by recognizing the drug demand reduction efforts of these exemplary young people,” said DEA Acting Administrator D. Christopher Evans. “It is gratifying to see the thought, creativity, and hard work these Young Marines dedicated to this important program. As tomorrow’s leaders, these students are poised to have a lasting impact on the drug addiction problem in our country.”

Young Marine units are judged on drug demand reduction (DDR) hours, curriculum, and the steps taken in reaching out to the community to include peers and others. Units can enter pictures, endorsements, proclamations, videos, and other items that help demonstrate their DDR efforts. The best three entries per division are sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s headquarters, and a winner from each division is selected.

"We are proud of our relationship with the DEA, and we congratulate the six outstanding units who won this prestigious award," said Col William P. Davis USMC (Ret), national executive director and CEO of the Young Marines. “Each year the submissions get more creative and more effective with units taking initiative to get out of the classrooms and out into their communities with the DDR message.”

That message is to lead a healthy, drug free lifestyle. The winning units are on the cutting edge not only in effort, but also in enthusiasm and creativity.

“Our Young Marines are truly committed to making a difference,” said Davis, “and their efforts are being recognized."

The award is named in memory of DEA Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena who served as a Marine. He was very concerned about the drug problem in the U.S., and in 1974, he became a special agent with the DEA. He worked in Mexico, and he had come dangerously close to exposing the top leaders of a multi-billion-dollar drug pipeline. He was abducted and brutally murdered in 1985 at the age of 37.

Agent Camarena received numerous awards while with the DEA, and after his death, he posthumously received the Administrator's Award of Honor, the highest award given by the DEA. In 2004, the Enrique S. Camarena Foundation was established in his memory.

In addition, National Red Ribbon Week was established to honor Agent Camarena. It is time set aside to teach young people to avoid drug use. One of the qualifiers for the award is Young Marines units’ participation in Red Ribbon Week which takes place each year October 23 - 31.

About the Young Marines

The Young Marines is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) youth education and service program for boys and girls, age eight through the completion of high school. The Young Marines promotes the mental, moral, and physical development of its members. The program focuses on teaching the values of leadership, teamwork, and self-discipline, so its members can live and promote a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.

Since the Young Marines' humble beginnings in 1959 with one unit and a handful of boys, the organization has grown to 235 units with 7,500 youth and 2,500 adult volunteers in 40 states, the District of Columbia and Okinawa with affiliates in other countries.

For more information, visit the website at https://www.YoungMarines.com.