Scott Air Force Base, Ill. -- Air Mobility Command held its first-ever volunteer virtual victim advocate course at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, Oct. 5-9, 2020. VVAs play a significant role in the success of the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention and response program.
“Doing this course virtually was a necessity due to the different COVID restrictions each state is facing,” said Carmen Schott, AMC sexual assault program manager. “It also allowed us to utilize professionals and experts from across AMC and gave the volunteers a chance to connect with others they might not normally connect with.”
SAPR teams are responsible for 24-7 response capabilities and hotline management to ensure timely support for sexual assault victims. To make this around-the-clock mission successful, full-time Sexual Assault Response Coordinators and SAPR VAs recruit military volunteers from across AMC to ensure ready and capable on-call response 365 days a year.
“The VVAs, really enjoyed the course and rated it very high with very few concerns at all, “said Jamie Mattice, SAPR program and integrated resilience specialist. “Other MAJCOMs heard about the virtual course and expressed interest in possibly joining in the future. Their expertise would be a great asset to these trainings.”
The course included 15 modules and briefings that provided instruction and facilitated small break-out group discussions. The course also readied VVAs to obtain their required DoD credentials to work with sexual assault victims and survivors.
“I’m really glad our team was able to overcome COVID challenges to complete this course,” said Schott. “We must ensure that we do all that we can to support anyone who comes to us looking for help.”