Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. -- Victim Witness Assistance Program advocates from 17 Marine Corps installations and local civilian counseling agencies attended the fiscal year 2012 United States Marine Corps VWAP conference aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Oct. 6 and 7.

The training served to inform victim witness liaison officers from Marine Corps installations across the country of policy procedures, as well as effective and efficient ways to deal with victims and witnesses to crimes.

The two-day conference consisted of 15 visual presentations given by subject matter experts from Headquarters Marine Corps. Topics ranging from knowledge of the differences between various advocacy programs to the step-by-step legal process of a victim’s witness liaison officer were covered each day.

“This meeting serves as a way to let everyone know the [Department of Defense] requirements for the Victims Witness Assistance Program,” said Maj. Dutch M. Schotemeyer, head of the Trial Counsel Assistance Program and a Kennewick, Wash., native. “This training goes over victim’s rights and shows VWLO’s how to effectively help protect them. We cover every step in the process starting with who to call. There is often a lot of confusion, so we teach VWLO’s how to interact with authorities and their legal role.”

Each presentation covered a different role of the VWAP and was followed by an open forum question and answer period. Attendees each shared different scenarios they have had to deal with, which allowed others to learn how to overcome future problems they may encounter. Participants were encouraged to ask questions about anything that confused them, and find new ways to aid people through what can become lengthy legal processes.

The Trial Counsel Assistance Program acts as a hotline to answer questions about all things concerning the VWAP, and Trial Counsel experts were there to teach about programs VWLO’s may not have known about, explains Schotemeyer.

“I had never heard of transitional compensation in all the training I have had as a [uniformed victim advocate] for the Navy or in the witness assistance program for the last six years,” said Navy Chief Petty Officer Crystal D. Hill, a victim witness assistance coordinator with the Wounded Warrior Regiment in Quantico, Va. “This was good training, because we covered everything, not just little bits and pieces to put together at random times.”

The 2012 United States Marine Corps VWAP conference served as a way to put all training in context. It allowed program members to learn how to protect victims’ rights in various scenarios.

“It just puts it all together which in turn helps us help others more effectively,” said Hill. “That is why we are here. This is a collateral duty for all of us, and we do it because we want to help. We are here to protect the rights of others.”