thedrifter
04-25-06, 11:48 AM
May 01, 2006
Officers in culture, language project are set to graduate
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
In June, 12 officers will graduate from Marine Corps Command and Staff College with Arabic language and culture training — the first crop to do so since the school mandated the training in September.
Language training has been the rage in education circles since the need for cultural literacy was emphasized in the Pentagon’s recent Quadrennial Defense Review.
The 12 students graduating from the college June 7 will have spent 102 hours in classes on language and cultural literacy, and a comparable amount of time preparing for them, said Charles McKenna, dean of academics at the Quantico, Va., college.
In the pilot program, majors and lieutenant colonels began the year learning basic Arabic, then gradually transitioned into Iraqi dialects. They will leave the school knowing how to read, write and negotiate in Arabic, said associate dean Lt. Col. Roger Morin.
Next year, students will be given an initial assessment to determine whether they should learn Arabic or French.
McKenna said French proficiency will suit officers for operations in Africa, just as Arabic training does for Marines in Iraq.
By the third year, the college plans to expand the training to include an as-yet undetermined Asian language and culture, McKenna said. The college admits only 12 students per year, and each student will take on a language and culture determined by an initial diagnostic test once the French language course begins, with African culture training in August. It’s the latest addition to a curriculum responsible for prepping the Corps’ field-grade officers to serve on a commander’s staff or as commanders themselves.
The curriculum’s emphasis is on cultural awareness as much as on language proficiency, because the curriculum is tailored to field-grade officers.
Learning cultural conventions
Lance corporals might need to learn “stop,” “lie down,” or “which way did he go?” as they fly to Kuwait.
But senior officers must interact and negotiate with clerics, tribal leaders and Iraqi government officials, said Maj. Bill Vivian, an infantry officer by trade who will graduate with a master’s degree in military studies June 7.
McKenna said operating in urban Iraq requires a commander to recognize who the community power brokers are, as well as the political and historical factors that shape their influence. A broader cultural understanding is integral from the very start.
Why won’t a simple handshake do the trick? Because there are certain gestures Arabs are sensitive to, McKenna said.
Thumbs-up is bad, the left hand is unclean no matter when it was last washed, and one should never show an Arab the bottom of his shoe, said Maj. Steve Luhrsen, another infantry officer who will graduate at the end of the school year and head back to II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
“There must be a mutual validation of authority” from the very beginning that doesn’t come just from speaking the language, but rather from knowing how to address people with the language in that culture, Morin said.
The training includes a “battalion- or company-level” negotiations exercise as a year-end project, McKenna said.
Students must engage role players acting as Iraqi government, religious and tribal officials on issues ranging from local infrastructure problems, such as water and electricity, to the security of Marines operating in the community and the identity of any insurgents in the area.
“We serve our Marines by communicating more effectively, thereby accomplishing our mission more safely and effectively,” Vivian said. “The main reason a bunch of majors would be doing this is because it’s good for the Marines.”
But what about the graduates who won’t be rejoining the operational forces on the front lines right away? How will they maintain their language skills for the future?
“That is one of the $64,000 questions,” McKenna said.
“In most cases, they won’t be.”
McKenna said there will be no way to gauge the success of the new curriculum until graduates write feedback from the fleet and describe its effectiveness in the field.
Ellie
Officers in culture, language project are set to graduate
By John Hoellwarth
Times staff writer
In June, 12 officers will graduate from Marine Corps Command and Staff College with Arabic language and culture training — the first crop to do so since the school mandated the training in September.
Language training has been the rage in education circles since the need for cultural literacy was emphasized in the Pentagon’s recent Quadrennial Defense Review.
The 12 students graduating from the college June 7 will have spent 102 hours in classes on language and cultural literacy, and a comparable amount of time preparing for them, said Charles McKenna, dean of academics at the Quantico, Va., college.
In the pilot program, majors and lieutenant colonels began the year learning basic Arabic, then gradually transitioned into Iraqi dialects. They will leave the school knowing how to read, write and negotiate in Arabic, said associate dean Lt. Col. Roger Morin.
Next year, students will be given an initial assessment to determine whether they should learn Arabic or French.
McKenna said French proficiency will suit officers for operations in Africa, just as Arabic training does for Marines in Iraq.
By the third year, the college plans to expand the training to include an as-yet undetermined Asian language and culture, McKenna said. The college admits only 12 students per year, and each student will take on a language and culture determined by an initial diagnostic test once the French language course begins, with African culture training in August. It’s the latest addition to a curriculum responsible for prepping the Corps’ field-grade officers to serve on a commander’s staff or as commanders themselves.
The curriculum’s emphasis is on cultural awareness as much as on language proficiency, because the curriculum is tailored to field-grade officers.
Learning cultural conventions
Lance corporals might need to learn “stop,” “lie down,” or “which way did he go?” as they fly to Kuwait.
But senior officers must interact and negotiate with clerics, tribal leaders and Iraqi government officials, said Maj. Bill Vivian, an infantry officer by trade who will graduate with a master’s degree in military studies June 7.
McKenna said operating in urban Iraq requires a commander to recognize who the community power brokers are, as well as the political and historical factors that shape their influence. A broader cultural understanding is integral from the very start.
Why won’t a simple handshake do the trick? Because there are certain gestures Arabs are sensitive to, McKenna said.
Thumbs-up is bad, the left hand is unclean no matter when it was last washed, and one should never show an Arab the bottom of his shoe, said Maj. Steve Luhrsen, another infantry officer who will graduate at the end of the school year and head back to II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
“There must be a mutual validation of authority” from the very beginning that doesn’t come just from speaking the language, but rather from knowing how to address people with the language in that culture, Morin said.
The training includes a “battalion- or company-level” negotiations exercise as a year-end project, McKenna said.
Students must engage role players acting as Iraqi government, religious and tribal officials on issues ranging from local infrastructure problems, such as water and electricity, to the security of Marines operating in the community and the identity of any insurgents in the area.
“We serve our Marines by communicating more effectively, thereby accomplishing our mission more safely and effectively,” Vivian said. “The main reason a bunch of majors would be doing this is because it’s good for the Marines.”
But what about the graduates who won’t be rejoining the operational forces on the front lines right away? How will they maintain their language skills for the future?
“That is one of the $64,000 questions,” McKenna said.
“In most cases, they won’t be.”
McKenna said there will be no way to gauge the success of the new curriculum until graduates write feedback from the fleet and describe its effectiveness in the field.
Ellie