Sgt. James Vorpahl, left, and Sgt. Dominic Madronio, both with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, listen intently during Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention training at McMahon Auditorium Feb. 19,2016. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class John Cortez)
By Sgt. 1st Class John Cortez
4th Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division
Sgt. 1st Class Raquel Mendoza walked onto the McMahon Auditorium stage Feb. 19, 2016, and apologized before beginning the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) training.
“For the next hour or so we are going to discuss ways that people these days are communicating through social media so they can hook up. If you’re easily offended, I apologize in advance because we’re going to be blunt on what’s going on these days so you can be aware and not fall victim,” said the sexual assault response coordinator for the 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.
About 300 specialists through staff sergeants attended the training that featured topics ranging from what sexual assault is to what certain emojis can mean. Soldiers from the 247th Quartermaster Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th SB, performed skits as a variety of training combined to drive home the message of what right does and doesn’t look like.
In one skit, a female calls her friend while sitting on a couch crying.
“Please come over. Something happened last night, and I need to talk to someone,” she sobbed.
The friend then steps on stage and the two sit on the couch. The victim tells her friend that she was sexually assaulted the night before.
“Really? There’s no way that happened. Suck it up. I don’t have time for this,” the friend replies as she stomps off the stage. Mendoza returned to the stage.
“That is not what to do if you’re approached by someone (who) says they were a victim of sexual assault,” she said. “Now, we will show you what the correct response should look like.”
Mendoza opened up to her fellow Soldiers about an incident she was involved in while deployed to Afghanistan in 2011.
“One night around midnight I decided to walk to the female shower to get cleaned up,” she recalled. “As I walked into the shower trailer, I could hear a shower running. Normally when you enter the shower trailer you smell the scents from female body wash, but this time I didn’t.
“I thought that didn’t seem right. Also it was common for a female while showering to look to see who just entered the trailer (but) that didn’t happen either,” said Mendoza. “Something told me to leave, but I didn’t listen.”
She recalled asking if anyone was in the shower. Following silence, she finally heard, “I didn’t realize this was a female shower,” in a man’s voice.
“After hearing his voice, I turned around to walk out and that’s when I was attacked,” she said.
The audience remained quiet as Mendoza continued.
“We wrestled our way outside and down the stairs of the shower trailer. Luckily, three officers walked up and saw what was going on. That’s when my attacker ran away. I ended up with some bruises and scratches.”
When Mendoza went to file a report, her higher command told her a crime didn’t occur since there was no penetration.
“I couldn’t believe it,” explained Mendoza. “Nobody wanted to help me. In fact, my unit blamed me, saying it was my fault for walking on a forward operating base at night alone to the shower trailer.”
She emphasized that regardless of the situation, a sexual assault victim should never be blamed.
“We might make a poor judgement but nobody ever wants to be sexually assaulted.”
Staff Sgt. Michael Miles, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div., was summoned to the stage. While waiting to enter the auditorium for the training, Miles intervened in what he thought was a dispute between a male Soldier and a female in civilian clothing.
The two were having a heated argument with the female being the aggressor. Instead of ignoring the situation Miles got between the two and told the female to leave. It turned out this was all an act by the SHARP team to see if anyone would get involved. For his actions, Miles received a 4th SB commander’s coin from Col. Ronald R. Ragin, commander, 4th SB.
“I’ve never met (Miles) until just now, but when I see someone standing up for someone, that’s what the Army is all about,” Ragin told the crowd. “Staff Sergeant Miles is a brave sergeant, a strong sergeant who stands for values. He is an example of what is good about our Army.”
Miles said the training was definitely different from the normal SHARP briefings he’s received at the company level.
“It was a unique presentation that kept my attention as well as added a lot of new information that I was unaware of, such as the emojis,” he said.
Reaching the Soldiers where they are in life was the intent of the training.
“In order to be effective leaders we need to understand our Soldiers no matter how old or young they are,” said Mendoza. “We have to give Soldiers and leaders training that is raw and uncut, and that’s what we did.”