[lg policy] US: Pentagon Officials Plan Cultural Awareness Training

[Harold Schiffman]

Pentagon Officials Plan Cultural Awareness Training

Aug. 12, 2009
By Gerry J. Gilmore

WASHINGTON (American Forces Press Service) – Defense Department
officials are developing a new training program that will teach
military members and civilians how to be culturally competent and
aware when interacting with people from different lands, a senior
official told reporters here today. Cross-cultural competence is
“something that we want to bring to the department as a critical piece
of training that we think needs to be incorporated into our overall
training establishment,” Gail H. McGinn, deputy undersecretary of
defense for plans, said during an interview with Pentagon Channel and
American Forces Press Service reporters.

Among her many responsibilities, which include performing the duties
of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, McGinn
also is the senior language authority for the Office of the Secretary
of Defense. She is responsible for improving foreign language
capability within the department and also oversees policy development
for the diversity and equal opportunity programs. Since U.S. military
forces conduct missions worldwide, McGinn said, they should
“understand the cultural nuances of areas into which they are going to
be deployed.”

And as the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse, it’s also
useful for military members to be culturally aware so they can better
understand comrades in the ranks from different cultural backgrounds,
she added. Cross-cultural competence training “is basically equipping
people with the skills to understand what culture is, how people use
culture, how they interact with each other within their culture,”
McGinn explained, “so that wherever they are – deployed in the world
or with host populations or with our allies – that we understand that
people operate differently based upon the cultural background they
come from.”

Military and civilian personnel who’ve been cross-culturally trained
should be more effective in different cultural environments, McGinn
pointed out. And that, she said, contributes toward mission success.
Though U.S. military forces today normally receive pre- =deployment
training, McGinn said, servicemembers may be deployed on short notice
or can be quickly sent to perform humanitarian missions in foreign
countries.

“So, what cross-cultural competence (training) tries to do,” she said,
“is provide foundational skills, to say ‘Let’s understand what a
culture is. Let’s understand what it means to people that grow up in a
certain area in terms of how they interact, how they engage with the
world, how they engage with you.’”
Cross-cultural competence training also involves lessons on specific
cultures, McGinn said.

The department sponsored a symposium, “The Role of Cross-Cultural
Competence in Organizational and Mission Success,” June 30 and July 1
at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick Air
Force Base, Fla., McGinn said. Participants discussed the best way to
integrate cross-cultural competence curriculum into the military’s
existing training and education system. The institute also serves as
the coordinating agency for the Defense Language Office to ensure
synchronicity among all services with respect to cross-cultural
training.

Learning another language can become a window into the culture of a
foreign people, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, said during his Aug. 10 visit to the Defense Language Institute
in Monterey, Calif. And as U.S. servicemembers continue to conduct
missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, the institute’s language courses
“are as important as any undertaking that we have in the United States
military right now,” he added.

“It is really important that we listen to other people, that we listen
to other cultures, that we pay attention to how they see their
problems,” Mullen said. “I call that seeing it through their eyes –
putting yourself in a position that actually focuses on what they are
thinking about, as opposed to how we think of them, or how we think
about, in our Western ways, we might solve their problems.”

http://www.army.com/news/item/5796

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal.
(H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list