MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE -- The Air Force Culture and Language Center has reinforced its commitment to being the “Air Force’s Global Classroom” and modernizing the learning environment for Airmen by releasing its 100th educational video on the AFCLC Culture Guide mobile app.
The Culture Guide app is one of many tools AFCLC offers to meet the requirements outlined in the National Security Strategy to modernize learning strategies to maintain a competitive edge, enhance knowledge of allies and partners to build the strongest possible coalitions, and increase adversary understanding for integrated deterrence.
Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, Commander of Air Education and Training Command, said in a tweet July 11, 2023, the Culture Guide app “meets one of our goals to have a learning ecosystem that will meet Airmen where they are, so they can obtain and exchange information to complete training and education anywhere, anytime.”
The 100th app video, “Making of the Modern Middle East,” is narrated by AFCLC’s Associate Professor of Regional and Cultural Studies (Middle East North Africa) Dr. Kristin Bashir. This video discusses the making of the modern Middle East to help viewers better understand the underpinnings for today’s challenges and divides in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
“The Culture Guide mobile app 2.0 is less than 2 years old, so we’ve averaged a new video or more a week,” AFCLC Director Howard Ward said. “We’re working hard to put on-demand content out to a busy force with a global mission that needs cross-cultural competence quickly.”
In addition to the 100 educational videos and podcasts on various geopolitical topics, the app currently houses nine culturally and regionally focused Air Force-certified courses, including Developing Cultural Competence, Resilience to Misinformation and Disinformation, and introductory culture courses on Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran.
Airmen receive a Certificate of Completion to upload to their learning record for credit upon completion of each course. These courses are also components of the United States Air Force Ready Airman Training program required for all Airmen.
“To be a force integrated by design with our allies and partners as Gen. Brown has charged us to do, we must empower Airmen with the language, regional expertise, and culture skills needed to achieve global fluency,” Ward said. “Our Culture Guide app is one tool that can be utilized throughout the total force and the Department of Defense to help achieve this objective.”
Between the courses and educational videos, military members and civilians have access to more than 40 hours of educational content for cultural competence directly from their mobile devices.
The app is also home to AFCLC’s expeditionary culture field guides for nearly 80 countries, which include an in-depth overview of each country’s culture and region utilizing the 12 Domains of Culture model. By the end of 2023, field guides for all countries in the first Indo-Pacific Island chain will be available, emphasizing INDOPACOM as a priority theater and reinforcing the Department of Defense commitment to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“We have an emphasis on INDOPACOM for the rest of this fiscal year. If you look at a map of the countries we have field guides for, you’ll see we’ve covered continental Asia well and the first island chain in the INDOPACOM AOR and are developing capability rapidly into the second island chain, which is going to be important as contingency locations under the Agile Combat Employment construct,” Ward explained.
More than 36,000 individuals have accessed the resources and educational content available on the Culture Guide mobile app. This free mobile app is available to all DOD and non-DOD users in Apple App Store and Google Play and cleared for Department of Defense devices.