PMT reports:
PMT article coordinated by: Officer Cadet 27079 (II) Joshua Siu – 7 Squadron – Cadet Wing Internal Information O
I Years;
II;
III;
IV
For the Professional Military Training (PMT) session for this week at the Royal Military College of Canada, the Officer Cadets (OCdts) were split into groups by year and had information sessions on sexual assault in the form of discussion groups. Further, the fourth years also had a brief on mess etiquette for their future:
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I Year report
This week for PMT the Cadet Wing had a “Small Group Engagement” on the topic of sexual misconduct. The Cadet Wing was split into small groups according to gender. Each group of approximately twenty cadets had one facilitator to teach the important topic of sexual misconduct.
In the lessons facilitators defined the following concepts: sexual harassment, sexual assault, and consent. The facilitators also explored the role of alcohol with regards to consent. Group discussion was encouraged by facilitators in order to engage the class on the topic.
Sexual misconduct is an unfortunate, yet evident reality in the world. This PMT session offered invaluable information for both female and male Officer/Naval cadets in the college to understand the reality of sexual misconduct. In some of these small group discussions, possible precautionary measures were discussed.
Some of ideas included: having a fire-team partner when going into town, taking turns of being the sober friend, being vocal when put in uncomfortable positions, and knowing your drinking limit. This discussion offers crucial information which could better prepare cadets if faced with situations involving sexual misconduct.
Overall, this PMT session brought awareness of sexual misconduct to cadets as well as offered cadets potential preventive measures to counter or avoid sexual misconduct.
– OCdt 27522 (I) Alura Castle
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For PMT, we had to sit down with our instructor and talk about sexual assault. Specifically, we discussed about the definition of sexual assault, consent, witnessing a sexual assault and what to do if you see a sexual assault taking place. As well, we were given a statistic of the amount of reported sexual assaults that had happened in the past decade. Overall, it went smoothly for the instructors and the cadets. We understood what is sexual assault, how to give consent and we know what to do if we are a witness to sexual assault. The instructors seemed to know what they were talking about since they gave an answer to our questions with relative ease.
On another note, the idea of dividing the cadets into small sections put us on the spot and made us participate more. Since we were in small groups, it was easier to interact with the class and the instructor because we were closer to the instructor physically, and there were fewer cadets around per classroom. I bring this up because usually a briefing of this kind is given in a large hall with only one instructor. Instead, many instructors gave the same briefing but the cadets were divided into groups.
– OCdt 27120 (II) Kirill Okhotnitski
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During this week’s Professional Military Training (PMT), third year cadets were given the opportunity to have an open discussion regarding the issue of sexual harassment and assault; in general, and more specifically here at RMC and in the CF. This session was directed by members of the military training wing as well as PSP staff. With their guidance, cadets were given the chance to speak openly about the sexual assault issues that they believe are prevalent and need to be addressed. This is a very important topic to discuss with cadets. Not only does the discussion between themselves help them to understand each other’s struggles but also raises awareness within the training wing about the cadet’s concerns and the hardships they could be dealing with. The problems discussed during this session are very serious and need to be addressed not only by the cadet’s themselves, but by the training wing as well. Together in coalition, the cadet wing and training wing can work to solve these issues and make RMC a safer and more pleasant place to live and work. PMT’s of this nature are very useful and appropriate for the cadet’s time at RMC and for the improvement of the college as a whole. If the concerns brought up during this session are properly addressed, prosperous changes in attitude will most definitely occur.
– OCdt 26698 (III) Chantelle Klassen
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This week during PMT, the fourth year Army and Navy cadets received a brief on Mess etiquette, in order to prepare them for their upcoming Army and Navy Mess dinners. They learned more about the rules of Mess dinners, but also about traditions and history of Mess dinners in their respective element. After that, all the 4th year cadets, along with the rest of the Cadet Wing, broke into small groups and received a brief on harassment and sexual misconduct. The groups were composed of 10 to 30 cadets and were focused on sexual misconduct. The teachers and staff giving the presentations encouraged cadets to participate in the activity and discuss issues related to the topic. Cadets learned more about harassment, consent, and how to react if you witness sexual harassment. It was overall a very instructive PMT.
– OCdt 26091 (IV) Alexia Croizer
This week’s PMT was a discussion session for all officer cadets about sexual misconduct. In order to facilitate this process, the cadet wing was split in small groups of about 20 cadets, and discussed, over the course of an hour, about various aspects of such matter and how to be proactive over this subject. Such discussions and briefings develops our awareness of these situations. Whether or not we remain in the military in the future, sexual misconduct can happen anywhere, and such discussion sessions will help cadets deal with those situations. Also, as future officers, we have to promote a safe working environment for all.
– OCdt 26152 (IV) Jean-Christophe Marois