Reservists Confront Sexual Assault With Training, Knowledge

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Shawn Rhodes
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  "When good men and women see a crime and do nothing, how sad is that?"

These were the opening words of an educational stand-down, led by Col. Doug Schwartz, commander of the 927th Air Refueling Wing. The stand-down and unit-level workshops were held on Aug. 4 in the base theater and in individual sections. Its purpose was to address the 26,000 cases of sexual assault that go unreported every year in the Air Force and to make Airmen aware of the options they had to prevent such assaults from occurring.

"We're meeting this issue head-on, starting at the top and working our way down," said Schwartz to the assembled members of his wing. "This kind of behavior isn't tolerated in the Air Force, and it's not going to be tolerated in the 927th."

The lead trainer for the event was Staci Vileta, the Sexual Assault and Response Coordinator here.

"We know we have a lot of unreported cases, and we can't change what we don't know," she said during her presentation. "I believe in the Air Force family, so when someone hurts one of my brothers or sisters, it makes me angry."

The brief was followed by a video presentation from Gen. Mark Welsh III, Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody.

"Every time I hear about another case, it breaks my heart," said Welsh in the video. All of us are responsible for creating a climate (of respect). We take care of each other. It's what we do."

Schwartz concluded the wing-wide presentation by saying:

"It's our Air Force, and it's ours to fix. Take care of yourselves, and each other."