Advice please - Trying to comply with the FAA's list of demands, only struggling with one - Community Member Statements

[drpepper7700]

I'll try to keep this brief. When I was a stupid partying teenager, I had a single over-18-under-21 DUI accident + property damage over 10 years ago, blew over 0.15, then 5 years after that threw in the towel and went to rehab in 2018. Gave up the bottle forever. Haven't had a drink since, nor any urge or desire to drink. Haven't had an accident since either. My medical got deferred (as I knew it would), and the FAA provided me their list of demands (as I knew they would). I have all my documents together, except one (well, three actually).

I cannot figure out who to ask for the "3 statements from responsible members of your community" for the following reasons:

1 - I did not keep in touch with my "recovery community", It's been over 4 years since I've spoken to anyone from that time in my life.

2 - In that same vein, I do not attend regular AA meetings. I never found them particularly helpful. What I did find helpful was the book itself, I have read the Big Book cover to cover on more than one occasion, and I practice its teachings in my daily life. It's been a literal godsend, and I attribute my success in rehab mainly to that book, IE, pouring over the text and really analyzing it word by word, and applying that to my life.

3 - In that same AA vein (again), I have never *really* had a sponsor. I did have a "sponsor" at one point, he was my neighbor at the time, but I never actually formed a relationship with him. We lost contact during COVID. I may be able to call him but I'm not sure his statement would hold any weight given the circumstances.

4 - I do not have a minister, I am not a religious man, the fact that I was able to wrap my head around "God as we understood him" is nothing short of a miracle (to anyone struggling out there, do you believe in Karma? There ya go, that's a power greater than yourself)

5 - I have not had the same employer for more than 2 years at any point - due to the nature of my career (IT helpdesk/contracting), every single job I'd been at since 2019 has either outsourced my department, downsized me out of a job, (or on only 2 occasions, asked me to perform something illegal or immoral to which I objected, and left on my own accord, still on good terms though). I've never been fired. Any one of the 7 employers I had would surely write me a favorable statement.

6 - I have not had the same physician for more than 2 years either. Due to the changing of the jobs, the insurance coverage changed as well, as such so did the offices which accepted that insurance.

7- I have not sought a therapist or counselor since rehab. Quitting drinking resolved literally ALL my issues, all my problems in life were a direct result of alcohol, and without that, it's been smooth sailing for about 6 years now. I even own a house now.

So that's my dilemma in a nutshell. The only people that have known me since the "bad old days", the only people who've really seen my full recovery, are my immediate family members (mother and 2 sisters), and one close childhood friend. Even my fiance, I met the year after I cleaned my act up. None of them have "letterhead", which from reading these forums, seems to be super helpful when dealing with the FAA.

I cannot afford a lawyer, nor do I want to "fight" anything the FAA is asking. It's all perfectly reasonable what they're asking of me. I just don't know how to comply when I've been bounced around from job to job, doctor to doctor, and haven't really maintained any specific direct link to a single "community" resource.

Would it matter coming from my current physician/employer whom I've only had for about the past year?

I'm fully anticipating needing to do 2 years or so of random testing / HIMS to "prove" my sobriety, but the Friendly Aviation Administration hasn't asked for that yet.

Whaddya think? If you were in my shoes, who would you turn to for those 3 statements?

Thanks All,
D-Pep

 

[Anthem]

I believe if they are asking for it - none of it is elective and optional. You have to do all or it won’t pass. So you might want to start those aa meetings and get them signed off.

 

[Mason]

You said you follow the Big Book in detail, but are you doing 12th-step activities? Have you.made amends? Without ongoing activities FAA might look at you as dry rather than recovered.

 

[bbchien]

D-pep an awful lot is riding on three letters from employers. I sure hope you left on good terms....

 

[drpepper7700]

You said you follow the Big Book in detail, but are you doing 12th-step activities? Have you.made amends? Without ongoing activities FAA might look at you as dry rather than recovered.

Thank you for your reply, you make a good point. Yes, and yes, but because I don't have any proof of that beyond the statements of friends and family, I suppose that means yes they'd just see me as dry. Do AA meetings count as "clinical evidence"? If they do I'll eat my hat, I would not have expected that to be the case based on some of the meetings I've seen. I also know that "recovered" isn't a term in this dictionary. Recovery is permanent, an every day exercise in self-awareness and good deeds, until death do us part.

I believe if they are asking for it - none of it is elective and optional. You have to do all or it won’t pass. So you might want to start those aa meetings and get them signed off.

Thank you, I'm not under the impression it is optional, I just want to know some examples of "responsible community members". Does that include just any random meeting organizer whether or not they actually know me?

D-pep an awful lot is riding on three letters from employers. I sure hope you left on good terms....

That I did. I suppose since they're asking for "at least three letters", I can send more. Maybe that's the move here, get letters from all the employers/physicians I've had since then + family.

Regardless, if I'm reading 14 CFR 67 correctly, "established clinical evidence, satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon, of recovery, including sustained total abstinence from the substance(s) for not less than the preceding 2" doesn't come from employers, AA sponsors, friends, or family. It comes from chemical tests, so I suppose this is all a bit moot until we get to the actual testing phase

 

[Roller]

As long as what you tell the therapist, who then communicates with the FAA, aligns with what your references later say when called by the therapist, everything should be fine.

Politicians and lawyers often rely on written bullet points to ensure their statements match what they briefed.

Use this as you see fit.


Submit what they ask for, nothing more, nothing less.

FOIA their internal notes

 

[TCABM]

…Regardless, if I'm reading 14 CFR 67 correctly, "established clinical evidence, satisfactory to the Federal Air Surgeon, of recovery, including sustained total abstinence from the substance(s) for not less than the preceding 2" doesn't come from employers, AA sponsors, friends, or family. It comes from chemical tests, so I suppose this is all a bit moot until we get to the actual testing phase

Nothing stops you from getting on a random testing program now. IIRC, it’s a 14 in 12 months schedule.

 

[wellknow]

Think it has to be the right random testing. one acceptable to the faa or the hims ame