Beale hosts women's self-defense class Published Dec. 6, 2012 By Senior Airman Allen Pollard 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Women from across Beale came together to learn self defense techniques Dec. 4-6 at the Foothills Chapel Annex. With these new techniques, the Sexual Assault Response Coordinators prepare the women receiving the training to prevent an attack. "We want to make sure women are aware of their surroundings and are prepared to defend themselves," said Staff Sgt. Regina Panting, class instructor. "The tools we teach are to help women protect themselves from an attack." The three-day course taught the women about the Rape Aggression Defense system and demonstrated hands-on, basic self defense techniques to evade attackers. They also reviewed definitions of sexual crimes, and learned about self defense, the law, risk reduction, and the decision to resist. The women went through multiple scenarios where they were attacked in a controlled environment and had to employ their newly-learned defense techniques to subdue the attacker and get away. "Often women freeze because they don't know the next move to make," Panting said. "So we want to teach them techniques to improve their reaction and awareness so they avoid those situations." For the participants, the knowledge gained from this course is something they said they won't forget. "I took this class because I want to be able to defend myself and teach my daughter how to defend herself," said Master Sgt. Shante Castro, 9th Force Support Squadron superintendent of fitness. "I have more confidence in the ability to defend myself thanks to this class." Castro also said a goal of hers is to implement a self-defense class for new Airmen going through the First Term Airmen Center. For more information or to sign up for a class, call the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office at (530) 634-3339 or (530) 634-4400.