Hi Joemero, and welcome!
The choice of whether or not to go AF for 30 days before moderating is yours to make. In her book, Roberta did not begin with the 30 AF days, nor did her friend who was doing the program with her.
(If you haven't read the book, I would definitely recommend it. You can download it in PDF format for about 12 bucks at mywayout.org)
I'm not sure which parts of the program you are planning to implement. I have tried sheer willpower in the past (as I think many of us did before finding this site!) and wasn't very successful. I'm currently in my first week of Topamax, and will add in the supplements and hypno CDs next week. I'm not planning to do an initial AF period. My goal is to be able to go for periods of time and just plain forget to drink! And then be able to have one or two here and there and feel satisifed with that. So basically I want to be able to moderate, in between unplanned AF stretches.
I think a lot of people try moderating first, and then either decide to abstain completely because they find it too difficult to moderate, or decide to end up doing the 30 day AF period before trying to ease into moderation again. Best of luck to you whichever you decide!