Photo By Staff Sgt. Armando Limon | The U.S. Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault and Response Program (SHARP) logo and...... read more read more
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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — “Bronco” Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, participated in the Sexual Harassment/Assault and Response Program (SHARP) Ambassador Course, here, May 24-26.
More than a dozen Soldiers, from the ranks of private to sergeant, volunteered for the three-day course to become involved with combating sexual harassment and assault.
Master Sgt. Abina A. Riley, sexual assault response coordinator, 3rd BCT, said the purpose of the course was to involve junior Soldiers, under the rank of staff sergeant who would be otherwise ineligible as SHARP representatives. These individuals are titled SHARP Ambassadors.
“The SHARP Ambassador program helps Soldiers be able to go back to their units and talk about SHARP down to their level with their battle buddies,” Riley said.
She explained the SHARP Ambassadors would be able to speak to their battle buddies on understanding bystander intervention, what to do if someone was sexually assaulted or harassed, and have a peer next to them that they can actually talk to first.
“We want to implement the program in the brigade and see how the Soldiers take to it,” she said. “See how they get involved in SHARP and how when they go back to their unit are they really going to have a conversation with their peers.”
This was the first iteration of the Ambassador Course to be held by the Bronco Brigade.
“I’m hoping to get about 20 to 25 Soldiers per quarter,” she said. “At the end of the course, they get a certificate of achievement from the brigade commander welcoming them to the SHARP program and telling them now they are SHARP Ambassadors.”
One of the first Soldiers to participate in the course, Sgt. Angelica Lawson, motor transport operator, Company A, 325th Bde. Support Battalion, 3rd BCT, 25th ID, said she found it refreshing to participate in the course from a personal perspective.
“I went through a sexual harassment case, and I didn’t know that much about SHARP,” Lawson said. “A lot of people don’t know much about SHARP, so I want to get that information … in case something like that happens again. If it does, I know exactly the right steps of where I need to go to solve or even try to prevent it from happening to my Soldiers or to my battle buddies or even my friends outside of the military.”
Spc. Jason Bride, intelligence analyst, Co. D, 29th Bde. Engineer Bn., 3rd BCT, 25th ID, said he volunteered to become a better asset in his unit’s SHARP program.
“I want to learn more of the technicalities of it,” Bride said, “how SHARP functions, instead of he said, she said hearsay some Soldiers think of instead.”
Bride stated he wanted to help the Soldiers he was going to be working with in his battalion.
“It’s something that everybody should learn, know about and have an understanding of,” he said. “Also to understand what other people are coming from and not to be biased about things.”
| Date Taken: | 05.26.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2016 18:25 |
| Story ID: | 199928 |
| Location: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 146 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ‘Bronco’ Soldiers become ambassadors to combat sexual assault, harassment, by SSG Armando Limon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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