"MACV launched its Drug Abuse Counteroffensive in the summer of 1971. On June 17, President Nixon announced that the military effort in the drug program, as part of the national effort, would include the identification of heroin users in Vietnam...On July 7, the Army began testing units rotating back to the United States, and August 1 expanded the testing to cover amphetamines and barbiturates."
From The Rise and Fall of an American Army US Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1965-1973, by Shelby L Stanton Presidio Press 1985
I do not know the Navy's policy in this regard, but with his ties to the Kennedys, I am sure Kerry would have been made aware of impending policy in this regard, well in advance, if there was any 'need to know'.
The crowd he was running with just after the war was suspect enough. Not like the vets I knew who came home and went to work.
Kerry was clearly anti-war BEFORE he joined the Navy. He went for the political cover it would provide, took plenty of movies and photos of himself, and PROBABLY managed to "get injured" 3 times in microscopic ways and got 3 purple hearts for it.
That is the likely story. But if it is why won't someone who was there and knows the truth speak out. I have not heard of Arkanicide running through Kerry's life. Is this all in a can waiting to come out at the right time. Yeah, we thought that about Clinton too.
I seriously doubt ...from what I saw in my unit....that officers would have been tested...unless they were involved in a MAJOR FUBAR