Sexual assault prevention main focus for Secretary of Army McHugh

VICENZA, Italy – Secretary of the Army John McHugh spoke with a group of senior leaders, Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention unit representatives and the Sexual Assault Response coordinator during lunch at Caserma Del Din on Monday.

“The president recently spoke with secretaries from different branches and (sexual assault prevention) is critically important,” McHugh said. “The Army values are being challenged in negative ways. I want to know what is working and what isn’t working.”

U.S. Army Africa SHARP representative Master Sgt. Steve Pauling told McHugh how the Vicenza Military Community SHARP representatives gather once a month for a lunch to talk about issues and keep communication flowing.

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U.S. Army Africa sponsors African Deployment Partnership Training in Togo

LOME, Togo – As part of African Deployment Partnership Training known as ADAPT, three U.S. Army Soldiers traveled to Lomé, Togo, to provide Phase II of Ground Training for 29 Togolese Defense Force personnel.

Capt. Brad Copas of U.S. Army Africa’s G-4 Logistics Directorate coordinated training with the assistance of two soldiers from Fort Riley, Kan., May 6-16.

“This was my third trip to provide ADAPT to the Togolese. Training was held at The Operations Training Center to Maintain Peace,” Copas said. “Phase II is a train-the-trainer segment of the ground course. It gives our Togolese partners the ability to train other soldiers as unit movement officers or UMOs,” Copas said.

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Preventing war with words

FORT KNOX, Ky.– Language and cultural barriers keep us from understanding and appreciating the world around us. What seems to us like a worthless flooded swamp is a field of cultivated rice to someone else. That feeling we get when our personal space is severely invaded isn’t universal — it is how other people greet and connect. And while we would consider a belch during or after dinner as bad manners, in other countries it is a sign of appreciation for a very good meal.

But more than that, it is those barriers that can keep people from achieving something as simple as a decent living, and in some areas of the world it keeps people from understanding that Americans aren’t really the bad guys.

Enter CULP — the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency program — and the Army ROTC cadets who are participating in this program throughout the spring and summer months. They are one of the resources used by Department of Defense (DoD) to assist less-developed countries, exchange language and cultural experiences, and build better relationships in these areas.

For more on this story visit http://www.usaraf.army.mil