What is Wrong with our Military and Sexual Assault?

During my time in the military I've gone through a lot of mandated training. A lot of this is training done just so the command can "check a box" and say that it was all done. Most of this mandated training is a joke. Nobody wants to be there and nobody really cares. I say most, because I have in fact attended a couple training briefs on various subjects where the instructor was energetic, got the people involved and really got their point across. With that said, these are few and far between. Most of the time the training involves a bunch of PowerPoint slides while someone with a monotone voice reads from each slide.

Lately the problem of sexual assault in the military has been in the headlines. When the problem first started to come to light, the military's solution (like their solution to many things) is to mandate more training. They throw a bunch of money at the problem, put up some posters and require even more training. This does absolutely nothing...nothing at all to fix the problem.

The last sexual assault training we had actually involved watching a movie. I was surprised that the army would actually have this movie as training because it really puts the military in a very negative light. The movie called "The Invisible War" is a documentary about various people who have been sexually assaulted in the military and how it has changed their lives. You can check out the trailer below:

 

Making everyone watch this movie and then discuss it afterward was a step in the right direction. A lot more has to be done and most of it has to do with changing the culture of the military. When people do get sexually assaulted, the attacker needs to be prosecuted to the fullest. You know something is still very wrong when you read in the headlines that the "Air Force Officer In Charge of Sexual Assault Prevention Program, Arrested For Alleged Sexual Assault". (Check out the article here)

Hopefully the military will get it's act together and make positive changes to eliminate this kind of behavior. The solution is much more complex than more mandated "check the box" training and more promotional material above the urinals in the latrine.