#SAAM: Recruits Afforded Constant C.A.R.E., Training on Sexual Assault Awareness

GREAT LAKES, Ill. (NNS) -- During Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and as an ongoing evolution throughout the year, recruits at the Navy's only boot camp, Recruit Training Command (RTC), receive regular Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) training during their eight-week stay.

"Sexual assault awareness is especially important here at Recruit Training Command," said Capt. Steven G. Bethke, RTC's commanding officer. "Our staff needs to understand this very important issue to such an extent that they can teach, mentor and lead by example to both their fellow Sailors and to the recruits who will very soon be out in the fleet."

For the more than 40,000 recruits who begin their Navy careers at RTC annually, sexual assault awareness starts their first week, in the Electronic Recruit Classroom (ERC) of the recruit's ship barracks. Instructors from the Basic Naval Orientation (BNO) office present a list of topics from Navy history and traditions, code and conduct, uniform regulations, financial assistance, Navy Knowledge Online and SAPR to the ERC, located in each ship barracks.

"We give them basic definitions of what is considered sexual assault," said Fire Controlman 1st Class (SW) Carl Latorre, from Philadelphia, a BNO instructor. "We also discuss reporting options."

Electrician's Mate 1st Class (SW) Roderick Givens, from Los Angeles, another BNO instructor, discussed how a recruit can report an assault and what is available at RTC for recruits who have been victimized or assaulted before reporting to boot camp.

"The biggest points we hit on is how and where a recruit can report an assault and what we have here at RTC Great Lakes for personnel of previous victimization, which is C.A.R.E. or Counsel and Advocate in a Recruit Environment Program," Givens said.

RTC began its C.A.R.E. program 10 years ago. It is a program in which recruits have the opportunity to seek civilian social worker counseling services through Fleet and Family Service Center (FFSC). The Navy and RTC recognized that recruits can experience a mixture of emotions that come with being introduced to the military environment.

At times recruits will experience high levels of stress, due to the rigorous training schedule over the course of their eight weeks on board, according to Chief Legalman (SW/AW) Marissa C. Brown, Personnel Applied Skills Streaming (PASS) Leading Chief Petty Officer (LCPO), C.A.R.E. Director and Assistant Command Managed Equal Opportunity (CMEO) representative.

"The C.A.R.E. program provides recruits an outlet where they can openly discuss how they feel, address past related issues and possibly resolve the anxiety that comes with being in their new environment," Brown said. "The goal of the FFSC social workers is to assist recruits to adjust successfully to the military environment whenever possible."

"A recruit is not placed on hold while being seen by a social worker in the C.A.R.E. program," Brown said. "They are scheduled appointments via C.A.R.E. advocates to the FFSC. These scheduled appointments are documented in the recruit hard card and the RDCs follow through on ensuring the recruit is in attendance for the recruit's scheduled appointment."

Brown added recruits are seen in the C.A.R.E. office by social workers for as long as they need it. Some recruits are continuously seen throughout their training, and others only elect to go as needed.

Both RTC instructors said if a recruit comes to them during the first BNO training and tells them they were assaulted before joining the Navy, they are immediately sent to the advocates in the C.A.R.E. office at RTC.

"We don't ask if any recruit has been sexually assaulted," Givens said. "We tell them how they can report an assault and that they should never feel afraid to report an assault."

According to Terry Schmalgemeier, RTC's curriculum manager, if a recruit does come forward to say he or she was assaulted before entering the Navy, the instructors let them know their reporting options.

"There is a formal reporting process and an informal reporting process," Schmalgemeier said. "If they go to a health care provider, they don't have to go through the formal process where it becomes a legal case and an investigation is started where we pass that to NCIS or some other avenue."

In the SAPR class during BNO, both Latorre and Givens said they are surprised how many recruits don't believe sexual assault can happen, especially with the male recruits.

"We like to hit them with numbers and statistics, especially the one in six men that are raped each year," Latorre said. "The male recruits don't believe men can be raped and it's a real eye-opener when they hear the numbers."

Because the Navy has made a concerted push to shine an awareness light on the month, SAAM training has been intensified at RTC. The entire staff went through two hours of SAPR training.

"There were notes in the Plan of the Day each week, emails from the RTC SAPR representatives and many RDCs (Recruit Division Commanders) incorporated SAPR training and lectures with their divisions in house," Schmalgemeier said. "RTC also held its annual Denim Day April 20 where the staff is authorized to wear jeans in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month."

The purpose of the annual Denim Day is to teach and mentor the recruits and get them discussing sexual assault prevention and response.

Denim Day began as a demonstration by female parliamentarians in Italy protesting the Italian Supreme Court of Appeal's decision to overturn a convicted rapist's sentence.

In 1992, an 18-year-old Italian woman left her home with an instructor for her first driving lesson. Once in an isolated area, the young woman alleged the instructor raped her. Although she said he threatened to kill her if she told anyone, the woman pressed charges and the instructor was convicted and sentenced to 34 months in jail.

The instructor appealed his case and in 1999, the Italian Supreme Court overruled the conviction and dismissed the charges. In the court's opinion, it was not possible to remove a pair of jeans "without the collaboration of the person wearing them," implying that any sexual contact must have been consensual because the young woman wore jeans.

The demonstration quickly spread around the world and, in April 1999, California established the first Denim Day in the United States as a visible means of protest against myths that surround sexual assault.

"Denim Day provides a great opportunity for mentorship," Bethke said. "Our life at RTC is mentorship. If I can provide an opportunity to focus that mentorship on one specific topic such as this one, then it is a win for us."

Both instructors and Schmalgemeier call the month and what RTC does every day in discussing and recognizing SAAM very important to the recruits, and they can tell the majority of the recruits recognize that importance.

"The SAPR training is discussion-based and I've never had a class where there was no discussion," Latorre said. "Everyone is involved in this topic."

"Young males, especially, come into the Navy thinking they are indestructible and could never be sexually assaulted," Givens said. "But when we start throwing out statistics and then back that up with pictures of a male who was been assaulted by a female, it tends to open some eyes. Males can assault females, females can assault males, males can assault males and females can assault females. It's very important that we conduct this training every day the entire year for every recruit that comes into the Navy."

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