The Invisible War - (Germany) Day 462

Movie poster on the internet of the movie we watched

for our sexual harrassment training.

 

This morning for PT we formed up at the commissary parking lot at 0530. There was a 5K fun run/walk being put on by the garrison for sexual harassment and assault. I showed up in my ACU because I'm on profile and cannot do the run. I sat in the TMP with SPC Mac and we just chatted about anything and everything. Unfortunately because we had to attend this event, we couldn't actually get a workout of our own in…instead we just sat and listened to the radio until the event was over, then we headed home.

The next part of the day was a movie that we were required to watch for our SHARP training. It was being shown at the movie theatre on post. As soon as everyone from the various organizations were coming in, they all started searching for the sign in sheets to make sure they get credit. Nobody wants to be forced to do the training over. I'm not sure why they don't just scan everyone's ID cards when they come in like they do at the gym. It would be easy and foolproof. No more loosing sign in rosters or illegible handwriting.

The movie was called "The Invisible War" and was actually quite good. I was surprised the army was showing this movie, because it really paints the military in a bad light. The movie is a documentary of several victims of sexual assault in various branches of our military. It goes over how they were treated throughout the process and how it has affected their lives since. The movie was pretty powerful and really stresses how the military needs to change their attitudes towards sexual assault. It has a very long way to go. I definitely would not want either of my girls to even think about joining any branch of the military. I've seen too much and I don't think anything will change very soon.

After the movie they had a little question and answer period, which I was hoping would go pretty quickly. I drank my coffee through the entire show and by the time it ended I felt like my bladder was about to burst. Unfortunately I was sitting exactly right in the middle of the theatre, so there was no easy way to easily make my way out and to the bathroom. 50 minutes later…the question and discussion period was over…I quickly made my way and relieved myself as fast as possible.

I then had lunch at home and headed into my office. The afternoon was spent doing schoolwork, checking email and surfing the web…oh and the occasional game on my iPhone. I am thankful for the time to do my schoolwork, but most of the time I just feel like I'm getting paid to do nothing.