TACAMO completes Sexual Assault Awareness Training Published May 14, 2012 By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jessica Vargas Strategic Communications Wing 1 Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The Take Charge and Move Out community conducted four phases of Sexual Assault awareness education to promote the Sexual Assault Awareness Month campaign throughout the month of April. Sexual Assault Awareness Month presents an opportunity for commands around the world to dedicate focused attention and training on the importance of eliminating this crime. The Department of Defense SAAM theme is: "Hurts one. Affects All. Preventing sexual assault is everyone's duty." "Sexual Assault is a serious problem and this Task Force is not immune to the pain it causes," said Capt. Charles Baker, Strategic Communications Wing 1 commander. "It degrades our readiness and our mission effectiveness. In the end, it is about respect for each other and shipmates looking after shipmates." The first, second and third phases of SAAM training were conducted at the command level, but the Task Force came together as a whole to complete the fourth phase. "The entire Task Force needed to see that leadership takes this issue seriously and that we are engaged," said Captain Baker. "They needed to hear from the commander about the impact to readiness and the consequences to our organization. Respect and looking out for each other is critical to our success and mission effectiveness and we need all hands on deck." The first phase, "Hurts One" focused on victims of sexual assault. The second phase, "Affects All." Informed service members that even a single incident of sexual assault negatively impacts combat readiness and effectiveness. The third phase, "Prevention is Everyone's Duty," focused on how Sailors and Marines must lookout for one another, both on and off duty, to prevent harm. The Fourth phase, "We Will Not Tolerate Sexual Assault," stresses the fact that sexual assault is a problem affecting everyone in the military, regardless of service or paygrade, and must be eliminated through an all-hands effort. "The month long effort was an effective program to keep the focus on the issue. By breaking down the event into multiple sessions, commands were able to take a step back and reflect on this serious problem," said Captain Baker. The Navy maintains a zero tolerance policy toward sexual assault. The goal is to eliminate sexual assault by fostering a culture of prevention, which is created with effective education and training, a 24/7 response capability to ensure victim support, standardized reporting procedures, and by holding perpetrators accountable. "It's important that we educate all of our Sailors to make them aware of the seriousness of this problem in the Navy and also to make them aware of our collective responsibility to look out for our shipmates in order to help reduce and eventually eliminate cases of sexual assault ," said Lt. jg. Jonathan Perez, TACAMO SAAM training coordinator. Sexual Assault prevention is an important element in the readiness area of the 21st Century Sailor and Marine initiative which consolidates a set of objectives and policies, new and existing, to maximize Sailor and Marine personal readiness, build resiliency and hone the most combat-effective force in the history of the department. The Department of the Navy is working aggressively to prevent sexual assaults, to support victims, and to hold offenders accountable.