When the U. S. Army Combined Arms Center launched the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Academy last year, it was the culmination of almost two years of planning and preparation on the part of the Army. The SHARP Academy, with its mission of educating and training SHARP professionals, is a statement of the Army's commitment to reducing sexual harassment and assault in the ranks.
Since its first class, more than 400 students have passed through the doors of the SHARP Academy -- formerly located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, now at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These SHARP professionals have gone on to serve their respective organizations filling the crucial positions of full-time Sexual Assault Response Coordinators and Victim Advocates at the brigade level. The SARC and VA are responsible for providing SHARP services to their organizations in accordance with Department of Defense and Army policy.
"Victims of sexual harassment and assault in the Army deserve a sensitive, confidential and effective response to their trauma," said Col. Geoffrey Catlett, director of the SHARP Academy. "The SHARP Academy ensures that those responders are fully capable of meeting that crucial responsibility."
The SHARP Academy offers two resident courses. The first is the SHARP Certification Base Course, a seven-week course designed to provide a comprehensive education for SARCs and VAs, to include response strategies for both sexual harassment and assault, and prevention training programs to educate Soldiers, Families and Department of the Army civilians.
In addition to the SHARP Certification Base Course, the SHARP Academy also offers a five-week SHARP Trainer course. SHARP trainers serve as instructors at the installation level for the SHARP 80-hour certification course. This course provides instruction for military and civilian collateral duty SARCs and VAs at the battalion level and below. Additionally, the trainers assist their commands with executing their SHARP annual unit refresher training, unit leader training, and SHARP senior leader briefs as needed.
According to Catlett, the SHARP Academy also has a wider mission than simply training SHARP professionals in response and prevention.
"Our graduates are leaders of change," Catlett said. "They are trained and motivated to return to their organizations prepared to help their commanders identify the underlying sexist culture. That's the key to preventing sexual violence, creating a culture where we are all assessed for our intrinsic value as Soldiers and human beings, not for our sexual value. That's what dignity and respect means."
For more information on the SHARP Academy, visit usacac.army.mil.
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