Photo By Master Sgt. Kelly Simon | Russell Strand jumps on a chair and imitates a “predator” during one of his...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT DRUM, N.Y. - A call to arms is often heard when something needs to change. That’s exactly what Pvt. Jeremiah Gibson heard March 12 at the Fort Drum Main Post Chapel.
“I never really thought about the men portion of SHARP,” said Gibson, an infantryman with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. “I never thought there was a huge need for SHARP for men.”
Russell Strand, U.S. Army Military Police School Behavioral Sciences Education and Training Division chief, came to Fort Drum to deliver his unique Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention presentation to Gibson and approximately 4,000 other Soldiers and Fort Drum civilians.
Strand, who has more than 40 years of experience investigating sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, is also a retired Army Criminal Investigations Command special agent.
Strand gave seven energetic and engaging briefs over two days, ending with a call to arms and challenge for everyone present to start leading the charge toward cultural change.
“We have had a leader-led, leader-driven movement; what we need is a leader-led, peer-driven movement,” Strand said to a group of 600 Soldiers.
Strand compared the cultural change needed to combat sexual harassment and sexual assault with the need to combat racism in the military in the 1960s and ’70s. He said the change back then was driven by small groups of service men who stood up and said, “Enough! We won’t put up with this anymore.”
He urged those present to do the same – to stop the sexual jokes, quit the hazing that degrades new members of the team, to stop the antics and be the professionals the people of the U.S. expect us to be.
“I’m definitely going to think twice about horseplay,” Gibson said. “Just because something doesn’t offend me doesn’t mean it’s not going to offend somebody else. We have to be respectful of each other.”
Spc. Jerome Cannon, a motor transport operator with 277th Aviation Support Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, agreed with Gibson.
“I was already thinking that everything is not what it seems, and people are not who they really seem to be at times,” Cannon said, referring to a portion of Strand’s presentation focusing on the three personas. “I learned more about how people try to hide things they don’t want you to see.”
The three personas concept deals with the three personalities we all have within ourselves. According to Strand, the first persona is our public persona.
The public persona is “what we want everyone to see,” Strand said.
The second persona is reserved for close friends and family; it is our uninhibited self.
The third persona is only for us. It is where our darkest secrets and desires stay hidden.
“It’s in that third persona where sex offenders thrive,” he said.
Strand illustrated this with various visual aids, asking participants to “pick out” the sexual predator in a photo or even in the room.
“Statistically speaking, five percent of the people in this room are sex offenders … think about that,” Strand said.
To someone like Capt. Douglas Stoner, commander of Forward Support Company, 10th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, that is something he can take back to his unit and start using to implement change. As a company commander, he said he understands Strand’s call for leader-led, peer-driven change.
“We have to get people to say ‘hey, some of the things that we do are not acceptable.’ Go ahead and admit that to yourself; then maybe we can make that change,” Stoner said. “I’m not always going to be there in the barracks or out around town. I need my guys to do the right thing and get their battle buddies to do the same.”
Maj. A.J. Sullivan, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum SHARP program manager, said that’s exactly the first step she hopes all commanders will take.
“Prevention is one of the key [points] of the SHARP program, and that starts at the lowest level,” Sullivan said.
She highlighted the outstanding team of professionals and SHARP partners at Fort Drum and said that every aspect of the program, as well as the Soldiers and civilians who live and work here, will benefit from Strand’s presentation.
“I’m still going to go to bars; I’m still going to go out with my friends, but this is going to change the way I think about SHARP,” Gibson said as he headed outside for a formation.
Strand told a group of victim advocates that’s what he wants to hear.
“I really think peers are far more impactful than the leadership,” he said.
For more information on the SHARP program, visit sexualassault.army.mil and “Like” 10th Mountain Division SHARP on Facebook. If you need to speak with a victim advocate, call 767-6128.
| Date Taken: | 03.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.31.2015 17:42 |
| Story ID: | 174811 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Renowned guest speaker calls Fort Drum to action, by MSG Kelly Simon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT