Cultural Awareness and the Armed Forces
Useful Today, Vital Tomorrow
As a leader among the nations of the free world, the United States has established a presence in virtually every nation on the face of the earth. In many lands, our diplomatic representation is complimented by a concomitant military presence, which has introduced members of the armed forces into foreign lands and exposed them to cultures and customs far different from our own. The military has long understood the importance of knowing as much as possible about its adversaries, but with recent and ongoing deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries the need for detailed, comprehensive knowledge has become both an issue of national security and a national priority.
Although our Soldiers and their leaders are typically briefed on cultural pitfalls of deployment to other lands, since the outset of the global war on terrorism (GWOT) our military doctrine and training have devoted far more time, effort, and assets to expanding Soldiers’ cultural awareness skills than ever before in our Army’s history. According to LTC William D. Wunderle, author of Through the Lens of Cultural Awareness: A Primer for U.S. Armed Forces Deploying to Arab and Middle Eastern Countries, cultural awareness can reduce battlefield friction and the fog of war. It can also improve the armed forces’ ability to accomplish their mission by providing insight into the intent of the groups operating in the battle space, thereby allowing the military to get inside an adversary’s decision cycle and outmaneuver him. In like manner, Wunderlee asserts that an understanding of culture and society is also critical in post conflict stability, peacekeeping, and nation building, which in many instances require an extended commitment of forces and assets in foreign nations.
Being culturally aware means that we recognize that-friend and foe alike-are all shaped by our cultural heritage. This influences how we interpret the world around us, how we perceive ourselves, and how we relate to others. More importantly, it enables us to better understand those unique factors of history, religion, geography, and the local economy that shape an indigenous population. And military commanders are increasingly becoming aware of the critical link between cultural intelligence and our success in the contemporary operational environment. The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is currently working on implementing extensive training on cultural awareness at all levels across military installations, and especially among those tasked with the training of Soldiers. On a basic level, the training is teaching military commanders and Soldiers how to not only more effectively complete missions, but also offers ways to carry out missions within a cultural context that heighten judgment and interaction within foreign lands. Some of the things that Soldiers learn are how to better identify the leaders and centers of influence within Muslim society.
It is also important to grasp the concept of families, clans, and tribes, and the factors and loyalties that cause them to react in certain ways. We are also attempting to clarify for our Soldiers and leaders the differences between such religious factions as the Sunnis and Shiites, and which may pose a threat to operational success at any given time. Taking time to socialize-typically perceived by us as nonessential-is a key element of social interaction within the Arab world. By getting to know the local population, we may earn respect and build bonds that establish our-and their-credibility and future approachability. Within the Arab culture, alliances and allegiances are very important. Arabs are typically loyal to their code of honor and dedicated to their tribe, clan, and family. Their primary concern is that which affects their immediate circle. To lessen hostility Soldiers are briefed to speak to locals and smile (In Arab culture, a straight face is viewed as being hostile and a smiling face is deemed friendly). Respecting elders is also a lesson learned in recent years. When entering into villages, units have found heightened success in acknowledging the elders and consulting them for advice and/or support in cultural relations and operations. Acknowledging their presence creates an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect-a task that will inevitably take time; however, with Armed Forces depending on the know-how and insight of the general populace, gaining trust is a critical element in overall intelligence gathering and an effective weapon on and off the battlefield.
An issue common to military transition teams, other U.S. Soldiers in advisory roles, and any Soldier or leaders tasked with meeting with local leaders is the fact every member of the team must embrace the mission and be prepared to accept the local cultural norms. Foods and eating habits in the Arab world are often widely different from our own, and if one member of the team grimaces or mutters something about the dinner we may well have lost the game then and there. This is a matter of discipline; the leader sets the example and his subordinates follow. An important point: we cannot ever assume that the locals do not understand English. Any foreign language instructor will tell you that one’s passive understanding of a language always exceeds his active conversational ability, and the smirk or body language that accompanies a derogatory comment will speak volumes on its own.
The importance of cultural awareness is not limited to those regions where we are actively involved in prosecuting the global war on terrorism. It has relevance wherever and whenever Americans-military or civilian-routinely interface with people and cultures of other nations. Whether we are questioning Iraqis about their water, electricity, and transportation infrastructure or preparing to close a business deal with Chinese investors, our understanding of whom we are dealing with pay dividends. The dividends we may achieve in the GWOT include an ability to predict enemy courses of action, greater predictability of his goals and how he hopes to attain them, a more accurate assessment of his motives and how to affect these, and a significantly improved ability to gather and assess the human intelligence that is the cornerstone of any counterinsurgency.
The GWOT is an evolutionary conflict, and our enemies are skilled in their use of information operations. They know how to exploit both regional and international media to their advantage, and we must not miss a chance to defeat them at their own game. We need to heighten own sensitivity toward operational security (OPSEC), because Al Qaeda and its surrogates are skilled at gleaning intelligence from our own blogs, individual websites, media, and open source documents, and we cannot afford to give them anything they can use against us. Cultural Awareness should continue be an integral component of Soldiers’ formal training and cultural framework. The United States and its quest for cultural awareness can be equated to a contemporary battlefield-if it is not strategically navigated with precaution, awareness and respect, our efforts can produce unforeseen repercussions and long-lasting detrimental effects. By thoroughly training and preparing Soldiers for deployment and by continued training, we can be sure that the vital combat multiplier of cultural awareness can contribute to winning the global war on terrorism and defeating the most implacable, ruthless enemy our nation has faced in decades.
This article was originally featured in the May-June 2008 issue of Infantry Magazine while serving as an editorial intern from Columbus State University in Columbus, GA
