Aca,!A"Next slide. Click. Next Slide.Aca,!A? As Soldiers, we are all familiar with this. ItAca,!a,,cs the quarterly 350-1 training. Death by Power Point. Time to get out the energy drinks to stay awake.
Soldiers from around the National capital Region were definitely awake when Aca,!A"Sex Signals,Aca,!A? a sexual assault awareness program, came to teach at Town Hall on Fort Myer. The program describes itself as, Aca,!A"a real-life funny sort-of-improv show about sex and stuff.Aca,!A?
Ben Murrie and Sharyon Culberson were the two presenters and almost immediately had the crowd laughing as they came out on stage and making jokes about each other. The show is intended for adult audiences and the presenters were able to convey their message by using terms Soldiers could understand.
At one point in the show, a scene is set up where Ben is out with his buddies drinking and is checking out Sharyon a Aca,!A"female Soldier that just got to the unit.Aca,!A? After a few more drinks, Ben decides heAca,!a,,cs going to hit on her, not realizing she is a Soldier. Ben starts going through some Army jargon to make himself sound cool, all the while Sharyon knows exactly what he is talking about. The audience then gets to chime in whether or not she should let Ben in on her little Army secret.
It was these types of interactions that made the show exciting, said Spc. Rodney Bolin, a signal support system specialist in HHC Regiment, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment.
Aca,!A"I expected the training to be boring, but I was laughing almost the whole time. Plus, the message related to me, so I understood it better,Aca,!A? Bolin said.
At another point in the show, the audience was asked to hold up a stop sign taped on their seats to signal when Ben should stop advancing on Sharyon. As the crowd held up their signs, Ben kept getting closer and closer to Sharyon and eventually the crowd started shouting, Aca,!A"STOP!Aca,!A?
Aca,!A"When the audience is actually holding up signs to say stop, you know they were having a good time and actually learning something,Aca,!A? said Sgt. 1st Class Syreeta Greene, the Deputy Sexual Assault Response Coordinator for The Old Guard.
Aca,!A"The training was very fresh and up to date and you need that when talking to a young crowd,Aca,!A? Greene said.
Before doing the show, Greene helped the presenters understand the dating life in the military, and more specifically the Army in the NCR.
Aca,!A"I helped them to understand how to relate to Soldiers and how they date,Aca,!A? said Greene.
Towards the end of the show, the presenters challenged the crowd. Aca,!A"For the rest of this week, get consent for everything, even something like asking for a bottle of water and see how it goes,Aca,!A? said Ben.
As Sgt. 1st Class Greene was leaving, she had a soldier come up to her and get consent to borrow something.
Aca,!A"It may seem silly, but now Soldiers remember that and they will remember this training,Aca,!A? Greene said.
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