Fort Drum

Staff Sgt. Anthony Ciccariello Jr., (from left to right) Spc. Evan Lipp and Sgt. James Smith, 10th Mountain Division, intervened at Watertown bar to help an intoxicated woman.

(Provided photo)

WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- Three Fort Drum soldiers were recently honored for intervening at a Watertown bar and helping an impaired woman who was in a potentially dangerous situation.

Staff Sgt. Anthony Ciccariello Jr., Sgt. James Smith and Spc. Evan Lipp were off-duty at The Paddock Club on a Friday night when they observed a female who appeared intoxicated or drugged on a sofa with two men. The 10th Mountain Division soldiers said the men appeared to be groping the woman and they feared something more could happen if they didn't intervene.

The three soldiers said they relied on their Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention training, also known as SHARP training, to help alleviate the potentially dangerous situation.

"They did exactly what they've been trained to do," said Maj. Douglas P. Herrmann, the SHARP program manager.

Lipp, Smith and Ciccariello recalled the Oct. 28 incident.

"I noticed that the two males had the female on one of the couches and they were molesting her," Lipp said. "I noticed that she was barely conscious. It didn't look right."

Lipp said he didn't want to overact so he asked Ciccariello and Smith to assess the situation.

"We agreed with Lipp and my immediate reaction was to go and get the bouncers," Ciccariello said.

Unfortunately, the bouncers said that the woman and her friend came into the bar with the two men and there was nothing that the bar staff could do, Ciccariello said. But that didn't stop the three soldiers.

They intervened again by talking with the impaired woman's friend. The soldiers discovered that the women had just met the men that night and that the men were not letting the women leave. The soldiers decided to directly confront the two men.

"We didn't want to escalate the situation," Smith said. "We didn't want to add to the problem."

Lipp said he knew the best thing to do would be to separate the woman from the situation and get the men to leave the bar and that's exactly what they did.

As they were escorting the men out of the bar, courtesy patrol from Fort Drum arrived and called Watertown police and emergency services. The woman was evaluated by paramedics and police investigated the situation. No charges were filed.

"I commend the officer's actions," said Watertown Police Lt. Joseph Donoghue. "If you see something that is not right, say something."

Herrmann said SHARP training uses real-life scenarios and vignettes to train soldiers on what to do in sexual assault or harassment situations.

Herrmann said this situation will be used as a teaching tool for other soldiers in the future.

"This is how it's done correctly," Herrmann said. "Are you going to turn away or are you going to intervene? What is fantastic about this story is that they handled the situation using textbook steps to prevent sexual assault."

The soldiers were presented with a commander's coin by division commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Bannister for their efforts that night. But the soldiers said they didn't do it for recognition, they did it because it was the right thing to do.

"At the end of the day, we all have wives, daughters and sisters," Lipp said. "We wouldn't want this to happen to our love ones."