Army to debut new game-based SHARP training tool developed by ICT

Published: March 31, 2016
Category: News

A story on Army.mil announced the April release of a new ICT-developed Army training video game that will help prepare company, battalion and brigade commanders to deal with sexual assault and harassment in their ranks.
The  article explains that ELITE-SHARP Command Team Trainer is an interactive video game that will make its debut, April 1, just in time for Sexual Assault Prevention Month. The game will post on the Army’s MILGAMING website at milgaming.army.mil, alongside the already successful ICT-developed “ELITE Lite counseling tool” on which it was based.
Unlike traditional slide show-based training, the ELITE-SHARP CTT game provides command teams with animated scenarios regarding sexual assault and harassment that illustrate both the right way and the wrong way to handle such situations, and then moves into an interactive portion where commanders meet face-to-face with virtual Soldiers who have been victims of a sexual assault or sexual harassment.
“We hear feedback that using slide shows for training is very ineffective,” said Monique Ferrell, director of the Army SHARP Program. “This is an avatar-based platform. When a new commander takes command of a unit, by regulation there is a requirement for them to meet with their SHARP professional, their SARC, within the first 30 days. What this tool does, the ELITE-SHARP CTT, is it facilitates that discussion between the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator and the commander.”