Army’s top enlisted leader stresses importance of SHARP during visit to South Korea

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
Story by Sgt. Christopher Dennis

Date: 04.07.2016
Posted: 04.08.2016 03:15
News ID: 194772
Team effort

Not much appears to be going on in the tan building with the white numbers “360” here, but inside, the rooms are completely devoted to one complex issue in the Army: Sexual Harassment /Assault Response and Prevention.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel Dailey met with Soldiers of the 91st Engineer Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, April 6 about the importance of preventing sexual harassment and assaults, and the detrimental effects that those crimes have on force readiness, at the “360 Training Facility,” Building 3754-A at Camp Hovey.

“It’s important that we sit down and talk about these things,” said Dailey “It’s something we can easily combat and get back to the business of what we’re about.”

The 360 Training Facility was established in late October of 2015 and is focused on SHARP education and training: annual unit refresher training, bystander intervention and affirmative consent. The facility also includes two victim intake rooms, which provide accessible and confidential methods for reporting.

“The purpose of the facility is to allow instructors to get away from ‘death-by-power-point’ teaching and incorporate the audience by having them role-play in different vignettes,” said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Crow, the 1st ABCT Sexual Assault Response Coordinator.

The building is comprised of mock settings, which include a bar/restaurant, gym/shower room, barracks room and a smoke pit area that will be completed in the near future.

More than 2,100 people have taken training at the 360 Training Facility since its opening, said Capt. George Smith, officer in charge of the facility.

The biggest impact has been to get people away from slides and get them to interact, said Smith.

“This facility gets individuals involved in the training,” said Smith “normally you have a 3-hour power point slide and people get bored; in this facility, you get people involved and they have to respond to a situation.”

But the facility isn’t just about training; it also serves those who need help.

“On top of training, if someone wants to report sexual harassment, we can support that also,” said Smith.

This facility’s stated purpose is to take care of the Soldiers and Department of the Army civilians by working to end sexual offenses in the Army.

Sexual offenses erode the trust of Soldiers and affect the readiness of units, which can be especially dangerous on the Korean Peninsula.

“We have to make ready to fight and win - those are not hollow words - and nothing makes us more ready to win than to build a team that can take the stress of combat,” said Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division. “Most combat veterans know that the most important thing that we can do is to have trust between one another.”

For the month of April, there are multiple SHARP events planned throughout “Area One,” the area north of Seoul that encompasses Camp Casey, Camp Hovey, Camp Stanley and Camp Red Cloud. Some of those events include a 5 km run, a scavenger hunt, and the “Strike Out” bowling event.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. For more information visit http://www.sexualassault.army.mil