OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- The Air Force is continuing its five-year plan to decrease sexual assault through the introduction of Green Dot sessions at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
The training, provided by the non-profit Green Dot, Inc., is different from previous trainings in that it focuses more on bystander intervention than casting the audience as either innocent or guilty.
It’s also unique in that it focuses on preventing interpersonal violence and stalking in addition to sexual assault.
Master Sgt. Jim Moullet, the lead coordinator for the training, said Green Dot training is revolutionary in that it teaches that everyone can do something to intervene in a dangerous situation, even if it isn’t something big.
“When you step back and look at it from the bystander viewpoint, it really empowers everybody instead of forcing them into either the victim or perpetrator role,” he said. “To do that, we talk about the three Ds – direct, delegate and distract. Using those tools, you can basically address any situation. If you feel comfortable being direct in the situation, use that method. If not, you can delegate to a friend who doesn’t mind talking to anybody. And then there’s distract, where you’re trying to distract from the situation – even just by interrupting and asking for the time.”
First Lt. Nicole Beebe, the deputy Sexual Assault Response Coordinator here, said the training is changing the way members of Team Offutt look at sexual assault prevention.
“Air Force members have been receiving sexual assault prevention training for more than a decade now, and they're tired – not because they feel it's not a problem, but because they don't want to feel like they're part of the problem,” she said. “They want to feel like they're part of the solution.”
Green Dot, Inc., was selected after the Air Force researched more than 200 different sexual assault prevention programs, trying to find something that would resonate with service members in a new way.
“Green Dot, which was started by Dr. Dorothy Edwards a decade ago at the University of Kentucky, was the only one that had research and evidence of lowering the prevalence of interpersonal violence,” Beebe said.
Offutt is currently on phase two of a four-phase plan to bring the Green Dot training here. Phase one involved providing training for leadership, and phase two, which began mid-July, involves an intensive four-hour invitation only course for socially influential individuals on base.
Ultimately, members of Team Offutt have until Dec. 31 to complete the hour-long training that will be offered starting at the end of August. This will count toward their annual sexual assault prevention and response training.
Beebe said feedback from the four-hour course has been overwhelmingly positive. The following is an excerpt from feedback given after a recent session:
I thought Green Dot was going to be the same stuff I’ve been hearing twice a year since I joined. It wasn’t. It didn’t blame a specific group of people for sexual assault. It didn’t make me feel ostracized or isolated as a victim. Green Dot is 100% different from other trainings I’ve been to, and if you are in the mindset that it won’t be, I personally ask you to just give it a chance. Green Dot is not teaching us that sexual assault and other power-based violence is wrong (we’re all adults, we should all know that by now) it’s simply reminding us to be a decent person. It’s reminding us that we are all in this together, and to have a well-working community, we need to protect each other and speak up when we see something that we know is wrong.
For more information on Green Dot training, please visit the SharePoint page at https://offutt.eim.acc.hedc.af.mil/55thWing/wingstaff/violenceprevention/GreenDot/default.aspx