by Senior Airman Christina Brownlow
Air Force Public Affairs Agency
5/1/2012 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- An Air Force Captain was recognized at the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes April18 for her actions as sexual assault response coordinator while at the 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea Feb. 16 through Dec. 31, 2011.
Captain Terri Zuber, Air Mobility Command Headquarters officer development, Scott Air Force Base, Ill., was awarded the Exceptional Sexual Assault Response Coordinator Award.
According to the citation, she educated 3,122 personnel with innovative sexual assault awareness and prevention training. The captain also drove her team to train 50 percent of the base in the four months after they completed the Bystander Intervention Training Facilitators Course.
The citation also said Kunsan remains number one in Pacific Air Forces for completion rate largely due to her accomplishments.
During the awards ceremony, Dr. Jo Ann Rooney, Acting Under Secretary of Defense and Major General Mary Kay Hertog, Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, presented the award to Zuber along with representatives from the other services.
Zuber said she was honored and humbled to receive the award.
"This award belongs in the hands of the women and men of the Kunsan SAPR team," Zuber said. "I was simply one small part of an amazing group of Airman with a dedication to care for our victims and a passion to end this horrific crime."
The SAPR program serves to support victim intervention as well as highlight prevention and response activities advocates employ.
"The effect of sexual assault is so invasive that, when this crime occurs, Airmen lose trust -- trust in leadership, in the system and in each other," Zuber said. "It literally tears units and people apart."
For those interested in becoming a SARC, the captain stressed the fact that it's key to remember that the position is not merely a job.
"It's a purpose and you've got to have passion in the primary mission you are tasked with and that's caring for Airmen who have been assaulted," said Zuber.
