For Navy Recruits, Basic Training Now Targets Sexual Assault.
On day three, week one of Navy boot camp here, recruits sat through a two-hour session on sexual harassment and sexual assault — including a warning that alcohol often plays a significant role, but is never a defense. . .
On the bus ride from O’Hare International Airport to start basic training, they watched a videotape of Capt. John T. Dye, who commands the Navy’s only boot camp, speaking directly about sexual assault as a crime. The video message was repeated the next day as recruits waited for medical screening and their first Navy haircuts.
“It is our job to inculcate them into our culture, which is one that does not tolerate sexual assault,” Captain Dye said.
Statistics so far show success for the new effort, which combines training, intervention and prevention — a surprise even to Navy officials who designed the pilot program. Since the initiative began in early 2011, reports here of serious sexual assaults, defined as nonconsensual penetration, or the attempt at it, have dropped more than 60 percent.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/09/us/for-navy-recruits-basic-training-now-targets-sexual-assault.html?hp
