The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) is both a military organization and a university. Students, known as cadets, receive a world-class education and military, athletic, and character development over a deliberate 47-month plan. A USAFA education is valued at more than $416,000, yet there is no financial cost to cadets or their families. In return, cadets commit to serve as officer leaders in the Air Force. From the time they arrive, cadets are challenged academically, militarily, and physically, and their character is deliberately developed.

Sexual assault disproportionately affects college-aged young adults. Nearly 25% of college women and more than 5% of college men experience sexual assault, with the highest risk occurring in the first 2 months after entering. Risk factors include being away from home for the first time, lack of experience with alcohol, social vulnerability as new students, and heavy academic load. Military Service academies are unique environments that pose particularly high risks, combining known risk factors that college students face with additional factors associated with military Service and training, including rank structure and chain of command, physical and mental training, performance demands, and other military cultural issues associated with problem resolution at the lowest level and allegiance to the team.

The mental health outcomes of victimization and revictimization impact individual and overall force readiness directly and indirectly through issues such as lowered morale, cohesion, trust, and workplace productivity and increased attrition. Therefore, effective sexual assault prevention and intervention efforts are needed that protect cadets while they are students and prepare them to be effective leaders upon graduation.

USAFA recognizes the importance of providing comprehensive sexual assault prevention and response training to its cadets as individuals and as future force leaders. RTI International proposes a partnership with USAFA to conduct an implementation and evaluation with the following specific aims.

Aim 1. Assess the feasibility and acceptability of the evidence-based Sexual Communication and Consent (SCC) sexual assault prevention program for freshman cadets.

Aim 2. Develop supplemental SCC program content for senior cadets targeting leadership values and behaviors.

Aim 3. Assess SCC program efficacy on proximal (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, self-efficacy) and distal (sexual assault prevalence) outcomes among cadets receiving the program.

The SCC program is an interactive, blended instructional model that is currently being delivered and evaluated with Air Force basic trainees. It includes universal classroom content that provides common learning points and covers standard learning objectives, interspersed with targeted multimedia intervention content based on common evidence-based risk factors, and delivered via individual tablets. The program addresses individual risk for cadets and incorporates a leadership perspective to prepare them for situations they may encounter with individuals under their command.

We will assess the feasibility and acceptability of the SCC program among freshman cadets, using the validated procedures and measures from the ongoing study with basic trainees. We will adapt SCC program content as needed based on feedback from the feasibility and acceptability findings, supplemented by focus groups and key informant interviews, and explore the addition of leadership components for senior cadets as they prepare to take command as Air Force officer leaders. Finally, we will use a three-wave longitudinal survey design consisting of surveys at baseline, post-training, and 6 months post-training to assess whether the SCC program is effective in improving cadet knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral outcomes around sexual assault perpetration and victimization and in training cadets for situations they may face in their roles as leaders.

Providing targeted prevention specifically designed for at-risk groups, including both males and females at risk for first-time or repeat victimization, addresses the need to (1) shift training away from a one-size-fits-all approach toward a nuanced model that speaks to individuals’ experiences and (2) provide more interactive and engaging training to a new generation of Service members. The targeted focus on preventing initial and repeat incidents is critical to safety, well-being, readiness, morale, productivity, and retention among cadets.