Military Drinking Age

In the "old days" anyone on active duty could consume alcohol on military installations, regardless of the legal drinking age off-base.

However, in the mid-80s, advocacy groups, such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunken Drivers) lobbied Congress to change this. Federal law now requires military installation commanders to adopt the same drinking age as the state the military base is located in. There are some exceptions to the law, however.