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Sexual Assault Awareness Month - April 2008

  • Published
  • By Michael W. Wynne and Gen. T. Michael Moseley
  • and Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff
WASHINGTON --  Our nation observes Sexual Assault Awareness Month each April and the theme for this year's campaign is "Prevent Sexual Assault: Ask! Act! Intervene!" Our recurring campaigns serve as reminders for the need for Airmen to reflect and evaluate how well we are progressing in this area of national and international importance.

Sexual assault is a crime that not only harms people but also decreases our warfighting capability, jeopardizes important relationships with host nations, damages unit cohesion, and shreds morale. Sustaining unit readiness is difficult to do if the unit is reeling from the effects of a sexual assault. Proactive measures, supervisor involvement, and strong communications are all essential to an effective sexual assault prevention program that can help your unit keep its edge. Take this opportunity to reflect and evaluate - and make adjustments, if necessary.

Regardless of the form it takes or the degree to which it occurs, sexual assault rips at the fiber of our core values and has no place in our Air Force or our society. Injuries to the individual can be latent and long lasting, or obvious and immediately traumatic. As Wingmen, we need to be supportive of victims who seek help through either restricted or unrestricted reporting. Commanders and supervisors needs to insist their Airmen maintain currency in all required training on sexual assault issues. Commanders and supervisors should also know their unit's Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) and use them as a resource.

The recently released OSD Report on Sexual Assaults in the Military for FY07 indicates we are making progress in our Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) programs. Training and an increase in volunteer Victim Advocates are cited as strengths. The way ahead will bring a sharper focus on prevention and bystander intervention - we want Airmen to look out for one another and intervene in ways that positively impact the outcome. We expect improvement from these efforts and need your full support.

We are a proud Air Force with a legacy of delivering dominance in Air, Space, and Cyberspace. To keep that status, we need each Airman to be healthy, secure, and free from the threat of sexual assault.