SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response office hosted a Commander’s Challenge at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia May 4, 2018.
“Today we had the first commander’s challenge, which consisted of each helping agency coming out to educate the base populace as to what resources they provide,” said Capt. Jaleesa Council, SAPR sexual assault response coordinator.
For the challenge, groups assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing created teams of four to compete against each other. Each team had to run to one of the helping agencies, perform a set of exercises and then answer a SAPR-related scenario question.
The questions were based on hypothetical situations where an Airman required assistance in some form, and the team had to figure out what helping agency the Airman should be referred to. The answer would be the next location for the team to race to. If the team answered wrong, they had to perform the station’s exercise again.
“If a friend needed help in a certain situation, which agency would (you) refer them to?” Council asked.
“In the military, we work as a team. We live together, we work together,” she added. “It is important to remember…to take care of not only ourselves, but each other. The resources are out there; it’s all a matter of finding and utilizing them.”
Some of the agencies that participated included Legal, Mental Health, Equal Opportunity, and Chaplain offices in addition to others.
“It was really interesting,” said Tech. Sgt. John Thomas, cyber transport system specialist. “It gave us more knowledge on situations that could happen…and where to go. As an NCO, that’s vital information for me and for my team.”
That was not the only take away the Airmen had.
“It’s a good morale booster,” Thomas said. “It got people from different squadrons and groups interacting together…and create, hopefully, friendships that last after we leave here.”