AFCLC celebrates Women’s History Month Published March 6, 2019 By AFCLC Outreach Team MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Historically, women have played a major role in shaping our nation’s narrative. Some women have served as vocal activists in many major movements; other women have worked quietly behind the scenes to battle oppression and injustices.This March, the Air Force Culture and Language Center celebrates all of these accomplishments for Women’s History Month. AFCLC pays homage to the wives, mothers, professors, service members, and pioneers who are making the world a better place.On a daily basis, the women at AFCLC work diligently to help enable and educate Airmen. The women at the Center provide mission support, develop courses, study languages and dialects, research tribes, and educate the public on different cultures around the world. The goal: to create globally-engaged, culturally-competent Airmen.To celebrate, here are some of the AFCLC’s favorite moments in history. These moments highlight the Center, female service members, and public service officials:1) In 2007, the Air Force Culture and Language Center was founded under Air University; embracing the Air Force Chief of Staff’s intention to improve cross-cultural competence. Employees at the Center quickly moved forward hiring experts to create materials and courses to help educate all Airmen.2) As AFCLC continued to expand, the Center began producing language and culture field guides for service members around the world. Mary Newbern is AFCLC’s Chief of the Expeditionary Programs. Since 2009, she has helped develop 45+ different field guides.3) In 2013, the Language Enabled Airman Program was formed under AFCLC. LEAP uses a two-part education and training system to help Airmen improve their cross-cultural competency and language skills. Since LEAP was formed, more than 600 women service members participated in the program, improved their language skills, and traveled around the world.4) Along with LEAP, AFCLC offers free eMentor courses online to help Airmen improve their language and cultural skills. During her time at AFCLC, Maj Rebecca McKenzie helped develop the online courses that thousands of Airmen use every year.5) AFCLC has a team of PHDs in multiple disciplines, leading the way in the LREC community. AFCLC’s Culture and Region Department Chair and Associate Professor of Anthropology Dr. Angelle Khachadoorian is the Center’s only indigenous and tribal cultures expert.6) AFCLC’s PHDs teach courses to Airmen and service members worldwide. AFCLCs’ Assistant Professor of Regional and Cultural Studies (Middle East North Africa) Dr. Kristin Hissong teaches a course on “Feminine Roles in Islam/Middle Eastern Culture” as an elective at Air War College. Dr. Hissong also teaches a variety of courses on the modern Middle East, the politics of Islamic struggle, and other electives concerning the utility of gender in peacebuilding and peacekeeping efforts and the malleability of memory for narrative building.7) As of today, six of the seven faculty members/PHDs at AFCLC are women. Collectively, they speak several languages including: Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian, Romanian, Hebrew, and Arabic. The faculty of AFCLC works diligently to help lead the way in education and Airpower.
