Not just for groceries: Commissary partners with base on sexual assault, response program

  • Published
  • By Susan M. Barone
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE --  The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Commissary is not just a place for military members and dependents to pick up groceries; it's also a safe haven for people who may have been sexually assaulted. 

Defense Commissary Agency officials on base are partnering with the base sexual assault response coordinator office in order to promote education and awareness of sexual assault prevention in the community. 

"To the best of my knowledge, this is the first partnership ever on an Air Force base between DeCA and the sexual assault prevention and response program," said Simone Koram, the SARC for Wright-Patterson. 

Koram said she approached Darlene Oliver, assistant front-end manager at the base commissary, at a base newcomer's orientation briefing about a partnership to help promote sexual assault prevention initiatives among employees and commissary shoppers. 

Oliver said she was willing to help and brought the request before the new store manager, Linda Foreback, who agreed that DeCA would support. 

"We now have signs all over the commissary so our employees can see them, including in the restrooms and the employee bulletin board," Oliver said. "We will continue to keep our employees (cashier, store managers, contractors, etc.) and customers engaged by working with the SARC because -- you never know -- one of them may approach me and ask for help or may know someone whom they can refer to the SARC office." 

While there is zero tolerance for crimes of sexual assault, unfortunately, many people still end up victimized by this crime because they've made bad decisions or they're not sure of where they should go for help, she said. 

"We're trying to let our customers as well as our military folks know that we're here to serve the military, but we're reaching out as well," Oliver said of DeCA, a civil service organization that has been serving the military for 16 years. "We're not just for groceries."
While an Airman may not want to disclose of sexual assault to a first sergeant, he or she may want to come and talk to somebody at the commissary, she said. 

"We have so many Airmen, retirees and dependents, including military children, who frequent the store," Oliver said. "They may be a dependant who needs help and doesn't know where to turn." 

DeCA, much like other base organizations, has mandatory training and zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the workplace, but sexual assault is something different, Oliver said. 

"(The issue of sexual assault) is something that people shy away from because that means you have to acknowledge that people have been sexually assaulted," she said. 
"Everyone wants to close the door on it and act like it's not happening, but it is happening, so we want to do whatever we can do to let our employees know that this organization is available to them." 

The partnership has already had a positive effect on DeCA employees, according to Oliver. She said that commissary staff members may have already saved a life because of their new awareness of this issue. They protected someone who came to them for help. 

Because it is included in the integrated delivery system, the SARC acts as a starting point for referring people to other base helping agencies as well, Oliver said. Even if the issue isn't one of sexual assault, she said she knows she can count on the SARC to guide an individual to the resources he or she needs. 

"This partnership between the commissary and the SARC will do something," Oliver said. "We can't save the whole base, but there will be that one individual who knows that he or she can get some help, and that's what this is all about. It's about helping our wingman." 

Koram said she hopes that these efforts to eradicate sexual assault in the base community provide hope to victims of sexual assault. She also said she hopes these efforts serve as a wake up call to potential sexual assault predators. 

The SARC and wingman programs will continue to remain strong and visible, ready to serve 24/7, Koram said.