April is Alcohol Awareness Month and the Navy's Pier Pressure mobile application can help Sailors make responsible drinking choices now and all year long.

"Pier Pressure aims to make it easy and fun for Sailors to take a closer look at their drinking habits and explore the potential health and career impacts that just one night of excessive drinking can have," said LaNorfeia Parker, deputy director of Navy Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention (NADAP.) "This app is free and combines interactive gaming with the tools that Sailors have told us they want and need to make drinking responsibly a no-brainer."

Pier Pressure is a part of Navy's Keep What You've Earned campaign, which seeks to encourage a responsible drinking environment by celebrating Sailors' achievements in their Navy careers. Recent feedback from Sailors led to adding a calorie counter to the app, where users can select the type and number drinks they've had or may have, and get an estimate of how many calories they'll pack on. As an added bonus, the counter also displays how many pushups it would take to work off those calories. Pier Pressure also features integration with popular ride services Uber and Lyft, allowing for a safe ride home at the tap of a button.

"Sailors have responded positively to Pier Pressure, which has been played more than 30,000 times since its release," said Parker. "It's fun and functional. The real-life responsible drinking tools are easy to use and are a great way to help Sailors keep what they've earned."

In addition to Pier Pressure's tools section, which also includes a blood alcohol content calculator and an alcohol content calculator for popular drinks, the app's game allows users to create their own Sailor avatar and earn rank (or a reputation) based on real-life situations that are true to the Navy experience. Interactive mini-games are woven into the storyline to mimic a night out with friends. The game integrates best practices in software design and gaming mechanics with public health theories and cognitive-behavioral research insights.

"We encourage everyone to download and use Pier Pressure and to share it widely to help keep our shipmates safe," said Parker.

Pier Pressure is available on the iTunes and Google Play stores. More resources for Alcohol Awareness Month and to promote responsible drinking throughout the year are available at www.nadap.navy.mil.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Chief of Naval Personnel, visit www.navy.mil/.