Patrols will keep an eye on GI drinking at more than a dozen bars in Lakewood and Tacoma, according to The News Tribune.

So-called courtesy patrols of non-commissioned Army officers are starting to make appearances at more than a dozen bars in Lakewood and Tacoma, just in time for the long Labor Day weekend.

"We think it's going to be a positive thing for our soldiers and our neighboring communities," Col. Michael Courts, deputy chief of staff for I Corps, told the paper.

What the patrol is not is a law enforcement sweep, Courts emphasized. Patrol members will be in uniform and will wear a brassard on their arms, he said, but they won't be armed and they won't make arrests.

The program does not aim to discourage soldiers from visiting bars, Courts said. Lewis-McChord will see some 18,000 soldiers return from overseas deployments this year - nearly two-thirds are already home - and some will naturally want to blow off a little steam, he said.

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