Corry Station Experiences Interactive SAPR Training

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Taylor Jackson

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Sailors and Soldiers in the Pensacola area received Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) training in the chapel at Naval Air Station Pensacola's Corry Station, April 4-5.

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Pure Praxis, a socially adaptive theater group contracted by the Department of the Navy's SAPR office, led the training. The actors use improvisational theater to encourage involvement and intervention in real-world situations.

"This training is perfect for making general military training more engaging and more effective,” said Cmdr. Christopher Eng, commanding officer of Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Corry Station. "Training this way is a phenomenal method of encouraging our youngest Sailors to examine how we approach difficult situations.”

Throughout the performances, attendees were asked to give their thoughts on the situations portrayed and occasionally joined Praxis actors on stage to show how they would respond to potentially harmful behavior by fellow service members.

"I liked being able to talk to the actors and feel like a part of the training," said Cryptologic Technician (Collection) Seaman Devon McCraw, a student at IWTC Corry Station. "Even though the subject matter is very serious, their performance was relatable and humorous and that made it easy for us to open up and engage in the scenarios."

Chief Information Systems Technician Bryan Hamel, IWTC Corry Station’s SAPR point of contact, said the hands-on training is more beneficial to Sailors than traditional methods when it comes to topics like sexual assault and victim advocacy.

“The training represents a dynamic shift toward normalizing the conversation in everyday terms that we use not just as Sailors, but as human beings,” said Hamel. “It empowers our Sailors, no matter their pay grade or age, to do the right thing to help a shipmate.”

Center for Information Warfare Training delivers trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services, enabling optimal performance of information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.