MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The Air Force Culture and Language Center recently released an “Introduction to South Korea” culture course on its free Culture Guide mobile app.
“The National Security and National Defense Strategies emphasize significant global dimensions in the Indo-Pacific region,” AFCLC Director Howard Ward said. “Understanding the language and culture of this region is crucial for our Airmen to strengthen alliances with allies and partners and enable Agile Combat Employment.”
This 56-minute course explores the rich history of the Korean Peninsula, the two Koreas, and how South Korea became one of the United States’ trusted allies on the global stage. The course also provides an overview of the 12 Domains of Culture as they pertain to South Korea, as well as introductory Korean language learning.
Airmen receive a Certificate of Completion to upload to their learning record for credit upon completion of the course.
The app also hosts six other courses: Developing Cross-Cultural Competence, Introduction to Afghanistan, Introduction to China, Introduction to Russia, Introduction to Iraq, and Introduction to Japan. The DCC course counts toward the overall requirements for the Cross-Cultural Communication Ready Training Area in the USAF Ready Airman Training program, and the other culture-specific courses are supplemental resources within the program.
“Cultural competence is essential to readiness for general purpose force Airmen with a global mission,” Ward explained. “Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s guidance on ‘integrated by design with partners and allies’ begins with people. These courses ensure every Airman has the knowledge to succeed when working with our international partners.”
In addition, the app hosts a video library frequently updated with educational content on various geopolitical topics and a database of Expeditionary Culture Field Guides for more than 75 countries.
More than 31,000 service members and civilians are utilizing the Culture Guide app to increase cultural competence. The app is available in App Store and Google Play and cleared for use on Department of Defense devices.