Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Sexual Assault Prevention Summit challenges Airmen to lead to prevent sexual assaultPublished Jan. 20, 2015
                    
                    By 2nd Lt. Esther Willett
                    
                    
                    Air Force District of Washington Public Affairs
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**Visiting speakers discussed leaders’ roles in preventing sexual assault at the Sexual Assault Prevention Summit Jan. 13 and 14 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Lt. Col. Kevin Basik and Dr. Heather McCauley spoke to 150 Airmen of varying ranks about how leaders can promote a professional culture which deters sexual violence and assault. Basik and McCauley represent a number of scheduled speakers who presented to participants during the course of the five-day summit designed to stimulate discussion about sexual assault in the Air Force.
“We’re talking about shifting and shaping culture,” said Basik, the senior Air Force advisor for professionalism. “We’ve got to get clear about what a professional is, and then develop a culture around it -- a culture of dignity and respect. This is the journey all of us are on. We want to move the culture; we want to move individuals to focus on the right thing.”
According to McCauley, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine, leaders create cultural norms by determining outcome expectation, what ramification will ensue if an individual demonstrates negative behavior. They also set the cultural standard by role modeling positive behavior. If the leader doesn’t feel comfortable doing it, it’s likely that others won’t either.
“Influential leaders are critical to shifting social norms,” McCauley said. “We want to shift social norms including the idea that violence is acceptable and that we can’t do anything about it, because we can.”
Leaders must develop the confidence, competence, and judgment to be able to make the right call when it comes to sexual assault, Basik said. The absence of any one of those factors could hijack prevention efforts. A leader can have his heart in the right place, know what he is doing and still make the wrong call.
In many instances people know what the right decision is, but pressures show up at the gap between deciding and acting, which keep people from doing what they know is right, he said. Some of those pressures include concerns about time and expertise.
Leaders may feel like the necessary conversations remain outside the scope of their job. They may worry about being intrusive, or that they don’t know what to say, McCauley said.
“There are a number of barriers that cross sectors,” she said. “These are all very real, and it’s important that they are said so we can create strategies to address them.”
Consistently crossing the gap between deciding and acting requires leaders to clarify what they are committed to, and step into the person they aspire to be, Basik said. Leadership extends way beyond compliance with Air Force standards to demonstrating a true commitment to leading and developing others.
“We’re back to identities,” he said. “It’s got to start with ownership. You don’t develop other people; you support them in developing themselves.”
Airmen took their notes and insights back to their respective working groups designed to create tools to help the Air Force prevent sexual assault. They were charged to lean into the conversation because everybody has a role in the developmental process.
According to Basik, it starts with thoughts and habits of action.
“You have the ability to shift and change the course of many young men and young women’s lives,” McCauley said.*(Editor's Note: This is the second story in a series of three in recognition of the 2015 Sexual Assault Prevention Summit.)*

Related Links
        Sexual Assault Prevention Summit prepares Airmen to talk effectively about sex
                                Jan. 15, 2015
                                The president and founder of the Date Safe Project spoke frankly about sex at the Sexual Assault Prevention Summit Jan. 14, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
            
            Sexual Assault Prevention Summit offers multiple tactics to prevent sexual assault
                                Jan. 20, 2015
                                Leaders in academia, government, and industry presented cutting-edge research related to sexual violence at the Sexual Assault Prevention Summit Jan. 13, 14, and 15 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
            
            Hagel: Fight to end sexual assault must be ‘personal’
                                Jan. 20, 2015
                                Efforts to eliminate the baneful issue of sexual assault “must be personal,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in closing remarks at the Air Force Sexual Assault Prevention Summit Jan. 16.
            
            Sexual Assault Prevention Summit tackles tough issues
                                Jan. 13, 2015
                                Top Air Force leaders kicked off a Sexual Assault Prevention summit Jan. 12, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, to tackle tough issues and get honest and open dialogue from Airmen. Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF Kendall visits Bangor ANG Base
                    
                    Vice President Harris congratulates USAFA Class of ‘24
                    
                    Senate confirms Melissa Dalton as next Under Secretary of the Air Force
                    
                    ‘One Team, One Fight’: SecAF visits Keesler AFB
                    
                    SecAF Kendall experiences VISTA of future flight test at Edwards AFBInnovation
                AFSFC reaches final phase of fielding Model Defender gear
                    
                    Around the Air Force: PCS Allowances, Air Task Forces, All-Volunteer Force
                    
                    AFIMSC focuses I-WEPTAC topics on GPC solutions
                    
                    Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium
                    
                    AFIMSC tools deliver data-driven solutions across DAFMAJCOM News
                AFMC to expand AcqDemo workforce
                    
                    AFMC empowers small businesses for Air Force reoptimization
                    
                    Acquisition Instructor Course Class 25A open for nominations
                    
                    Air Guard leaders host 2024 Wing Leader Conference
                    
                    Referral bonuses aim to help fill mission-critical vacancies
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil