Green Dot training implemented at AEDC

  • Published
  • By Raquel March
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. --  AEDC implemented Green Dot training Aug. 31, joining the entire Air Force in an initiative to prevent interpersonal violence such as sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking.

The non-profit Green Dot Etcetera organization was contracted by the Air Force to train leaders and designated Airmen and Department of Defense personnel in violence prevention tools. The chosen Airmen and personnel are tasked to instruct other Air Force members in implementing the tools to reduce power-based interpersonal violence.

“AEDC’s senior leaders received specialized Green Dot training in June,” said Lee Smith, a Green Dot implementer and the AEDC Emergency Management Program manager. “In their training we introduced the concepts and activities used in the implementation of the Green Dot initiative. The rest of the year Green Dot implementers will offer opportunities for the remaining DOD civilians and military personnel to receive the Green Dot overview and implementation plan.”

Smith and 2nd Lt. Karlie Madden are the implementers for AEDC. They encourage more involvement during the training by using realistic scenarios and group discussions.

The program emphasizes the need for bystanders to be proactive in preventing violence. A choice to display a poster or intercede in a situation before a violent act occurs are actions that could prevent someone from being subjected to violence. According to the program, these are known as green dots that decrease red dots, or violence.

According to the 2015 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, released by the DOD, when 3 percent of bystanders observed a high risk situation for sexual assault, 88 percent of the three intervened. The report stated that “responses included things like stepping in to separate people involved in the situation, asking the person at risk if they needed help and telling someone in authority about the situation.” The percentages suggests that “approximately 16,000 service members took some kind of action to prevent what they thought might have been a situation at risk for sexual assault,” according to the report.

In a correspondence to Airmen and DOD team members at the Complex, AEDC Commander Col. Rodney Todaro said, “I am a big believer in this initiative and I ask that you give it an honest chance.”
Smith wants Green Dot training participants to understand their involvement is vital.

“Green Dot training is important because it reinforces the possibility each individual can contribute to changing the culture on our installation and community,” he said. “As a Green Dot implementer or victim advocate we can teach the concepts of prevention until we are blue in the face. It is the ‘unexpected messenger’ of violence prevention that makes the message resonate with others. All we ask is that everyone take a moment to reconsider what they can do to prevent power-based interpersonal violence from happening in the places we live and work.”

-AEDC-