MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The emergence of cyberspace has been a shock wave affecting almost every aspect of society, including our national defense.
The cyber domain factors into Great Power Competition and the U.S. is working with our allies and partners around the world to improve our capacity to collectively defend against and respond to cyber threats from authoritarian states.
"Cyber is a relatively new frontier for warfare, and cyber actions are changing the character of war,” said Lt. Col. Donald Seablom, Air University Cyber Chair. “It is vital that Airmen remain abreast of developments to integrate cyber into joint force operations effectively."
Recognizing the importance of cyber, five Language Enabled Airman Program (LEAP) Scholars participated in a special guided Language Intensive Training Event (LITE) in Germany in May. Students were also immersed in German language and culture as they traveled to multiple locations throughout the country.
Dr. Sandra Schoder, Associate Professor of German with the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center detachment at Air University, as well as the program organizer and guide for the LEAP Scholars in Germany, noted the training was deliberately structured to give the participants a comprehensive learning experience.
“The daily structure followed three hours of class instruction, three hours of fieldwork, and one hour of homework,” she said. “Class hours prepared the students for the fieldwork activities. For example, we studied the German cyber landscape, then visited the German Federal Ministry of Defence receiving a cyber presentation with discussion. The following day, we debriefed on the experience. The target language was always used during class hours, fieldwork activities, and homework. It was also required outside duty hours.”
According to one of the participating LEAP Scholars, Tech Sgt. Christopher Wood, the event was packed with learning. Students not only participated in multiple languages and cultures, the event was packed with learning as students participated in multiple cyber activities during the day, but they also spoke only German during time off and even had daily homework assignments.
“We would have homework assigned to us during the week, that would be discussed in the days following,” he said. “Homework consisted of reading German news articles or specific documentation, such as the Cyber Security and Information Technology Strategy for the state of Sachen-Anhalt.”
LEAP Scholar Capt. Maximilian Umland said the event was a multi-level training experience.
“The purpose of this LITE was two-fold,” he said. “On the one hand, we wanted to take the opportunity to refresh our language skills, specifically speaking and listening. While LEAP members devote substantial time to sharpening their linguistic skills at home, the rubber meets the road when immersed in the language and culture. On the other hand, we took a group of individuals interested in the topic at the intersection of both cybersecurity and national defense and experienced it firsthand from the perspective of one of our strongest NATO allies. As such, we engaged in dialogue that helped hone our perspectives, while enabling a two-way exchange of principles and techniques that address common issues we face from our adversaries.”
Even with the abundance of cultural and language education the scholars experienced, the topic of cyber was always front and center.
“The Cyber aspect of this LITE took place throughout Berlin, Magdeburg, and Hamburg,” Umland said. “We visited the Federal Ministries of Defence and of the Interior, the Ministry of Digitalization, and the German Bundeswehr's different academic and leadership academies. At these different locations, we discussed the primary regional cyber threat for the German military. We drew parallels (where appropriate) to similar patterns that we face in the U.S. military.”
LEAP Scholars have the capability to communicate on topics, such as cyber, with technical vocabulary in the language of our allies. This training allows them to practice that skill.
“For our language and cultural skills, we learned how to communicate about these critical cyber issues by learning not just the classroom vernacular but also the real, practical parlance used in the cyber field,” said Umland. “Additionally, there was a heavy focus on integrating German history and culture. Speaking is a very perishable skill, and maintaining that fluency is critical. The military benefit is that topics of information dominance and awareness impact every single military operation. Working with the different ministries enables us to understand the perspective of our allies on these issues to ultimately enable us to better integrate with them when it comes to developing the solutions to problems we expect to have, as well as making sure U.S. operations work in synchrony with those of our allies when the time comes.”