At Naval Support Activity South Potomac (NSASP) a team of professionally trained staff at the Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) quietly prepares to provide support and guidance to victims of sexual assault.

The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) office, led by Gloria Arteaga, is located at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren's FFSC and victim advocates are on call 24/7 to provide support when needed. The Dahlgren office also serves personnel stationed at NSF Indian Head.

Arteaga and her team recently designed and conducted a drill with the NSASP Police Department that tested their ability to respond to a sexual assault.

The training scenario presented victim advocates with a minor girl who was attacked on base by a military member. The "victim" was accompanied to the police department by her distraught "father," who also needed assistance to deal with his emotions surrounding the attack. The advocate met them there.

Hospitalman Brittany Lawrence and Religious Program Specialist 2nd Class Greyson Harrelson portrayed the victim and her father, respectively, as role players in this scenario, but the responders were the very real Navy police officers.

"This was the first time we have had an incident like this with our security personnel, so I felt that it was going to be more of an educational experience for them, because we want them to be ready in the event this situation arises," Arteaga said. "We want to establish good open communication and work together with them in these types of situations."

There were several issues at play in the event that the drill was designed to assess: how quickly the security staff was able to assess the situation and reach out to the "watch bill" to get the SAPR staff involved, the level of privacy that the victim was afforded, how long it took for the watchbill to be reached and deployed an advocate, and how the "crisis" was handled overall. The security forces were unaware that the drill was about to happen and Arteaga was very interested in how the scenario would unfold.

As it turned out, NSASP security forces were well prepared for such a scenario. Deputy Chief of Police Stan Chizuk quickly assessed the delicate situation and moved both the "victim" and "father" into a private room to offer as much privacy as he could while under the watchful eyes of Arteaga and Ed Patuga, NSASP training and readiness officer, he gently guided the "victim" through a description statement so that the police could begin to do what they do best; locating and apprehending the perpetrator. Chizuk also enlisted a female police officer, Sgt. Bonita Fulcher, to be a part of the team as they moved forward to provide the victim with a sense of safety during the interview.

After Chizuk was able to get the information that he needed, he moved out and left Fulcher to provide security and comfort to the victim as they moved forward with the law enforcement side of the response. At this point, Arteaga was able to provide prompts for Fulcher as she reached out to the SAPR staff.

Fulcher was pleased to have been chosen to participate in the event.

"This has been very informative," Fulcher said. "It helped refresh my knowledge on how to get in touch with the SAPR office and know what their protocol was. I think it was a great idea to have a drill so that we are well prepared for this type of incident."

"We want to be sure that we are taking care of our victims in the best way possible," Chizuk said. "Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, we don't have a lot of training in this because we don't have these types of situations here frequently."

Just as in the popular TV show "Law and Order", officers of the law have a very specific function, to find and arrest the "bad guy," the courts have their role in the prosecution of offenders, but it is the SAPR advocates who are the team members trained to provide support and guidance for the victim and remain with them throughout their ordeal. From the time the call goes out, to the potential hospital visits, to dealing with the aftermath, SAPR advocates are here to assist a victim throughout the emotional journey.

SAPR professionals and volunteers stand in the gap for the victims and are trained to provide expert care and guidance through a difficult experience.

Preventing and responding to sexual assaults is the goal of the cadre of trained SAPR victim advocates on staff at FFSC, but that goal is also to have trained volunteer advocates from within tenant commands on base. Arteaga and the SAPR team are currently seeking support from individuals within the NSF Dahlgren and NSF Indian Head community to step up and be a part of the program.

Active-duty service members who volunteer receive extensive training to how they can provide support for their shipmates and coworkers in the wake of a sexual assault. An initial 40-hour training course is conducted to prepare volunteer victim advocates. Refresher courses are also offered and are mandatory to remain an active member of the SAPR team.

Unfortunately, contractors are not able to participate in the program as victim advocates; however Arteaga emphasized that SAPR services are available to anyone who calls. SAPR advocates will assist in finding the proper channel for anyone who reaches out in an assault situation.

"It has been a challenge to find people to participate and get more involved with the SAPR program," said Felicia Hoyle, NSASP's SAPR victim advocacy support specialist.

Harrelson, a SAPR victim advocate for several years, shared his take on the training courses offered.

"This drill was a good refresher training for me," Harrelson said. "I had taken the course two years ago and did the refresher course last year, but I think these sorts of drills are really helpful for the victim advocates."

The SAPR Advocate Program leaders discovered that having the simulated drills were so successful and well-received by the volunteers that they now hold them at every training course.

"We've begun having a simulated drill like this one at the end of each of our training courses that we do," Hoyle said. "At the end of our 40-hour initial training we even have NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) come and conduct an actual NCIS interview as part of the drill. Our potential SAPR advocates are given my phone as the duty cell and we guide them through the entire response process."

"The SAPR training is much more graphic and definitely makes the issue more real," Harrelson said. "I think all Sailors should go through a more intensive course, its really an eye opener."

Another SAPR Advocacy Training course will be offered in May. To find out more about the course and how you can be a part of the program, contact the FFSC office at (540) 653-1839 or (800) 500-4947.

If you need access to the emergency SAPR advocate please call (540) 424-0660. They are available 24 hours a day for crisis relief.

For more news from Naval District Washington, visit www.navy.mil