By Heath Druzin
Marine veteran David Pelletier was facing yet another drunken driving charge in 2006, and this time it was a felony. He drank himself through his 20s and this, it seemed, was the logical end.
Facing jail time and an uncertain future, before veterans treatment courts existed, he got some good advice from a fellow veteran who had struggled with alcohol: Get serious about cleaning up and use your GI Bill to turn your life around. He caught a break when his charge was reduced to a misdemeanor.
Nine years later, Pelletier — now 38, sober, with a law degree — is leading a nationwide recruiting effort to find and train veterans like the one who helped him. The mentors will work with the increasingly popular veterans treatment courts, set up to offer an alternative to jail for former 
servicemembers. More than 100 vets from 27 states came to the Veterans Court Convention this week in National Harbor to get training. From there, they will work with their local veteran courts.
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