Col. Robert Sofge, commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 14, talks to Marines and Sailors about the importance of preventing sexual assault at the Cherry Point theater Aug. 15. The training gave Sofge a chance to look his service members in the eyes and personally relay his and the Marine Corps’ views on sexual assault. Sofge wanted the service members to walk away from the training with two specific details in mind. First, if a Marine is a victim of a sexual assault, they must have the moral courage and trust in their chain of command to come forward. Second, Marines and Sailors must step up and eliminate sexual assault within all ranks of the Marine Corps. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced seven new initiatives to strengthen and standardize the department’s sexual assault prevention and response effort Aug. 15. In a memo to the field, Hagel called elimination of sexual assault in the military one of the department’s top priorities.