Representatives from the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce got a front row seat to see how the Air Force does culture and language education and training June 9.
The MACC’s Director of Defense Technology Development Rick Plaskett; Vice President of Business Development Ron Simmons; Vice President of Community Strategies Sheron Rose; and Senior Manager Bonnie Evans visited the Air Force Culture and Language Center in order to learn and interact with its many programs that educate Airmen in international relations, communications, and building partnerships.
The small group of representatives participated in an overview of the center’s online Community College of the Air Force cultural education courses, pre-deployment training, pocket field guides outlining a specific country’s cultural environment, and the Language Enabled Airman Program, which offers language instruction to Airmen identified with a pre-existing linguistic skill.
“We have business partners from around the world that we interact with,” Simmons said. “This kind of culture training is exactly what people need before they meet with those individuals. I had no idea that the Air Force was doing this.”
Activities moved into the LEAP office in order to showcase the program’s Language Enabled Airman Development Resource system, LEADeR, which is a uniquely developed software for locating language speakers anywhere within the Air Force in mere seconds. It is an invaluable asset to leaders with a need to identify language experts near them in support of their mission.
“Successful military to military partnerships will be critical to the Air Force's ability to project strategic air power within the international community,” said Lt. Col. Eric Graham, director of LEAP operations at the AFCLC. “LEAP prepares the everyday Airman for mission success by identifying, training, and sustaining strategic language and cultural skills that are needed to influence our mission partners.”
The AFCLC’s presentation was not restricted to a single briefing room and slide show; rather, the Chamber members gained hands-on experiences by undergoing an immersive scenario-based exercise in an office decorated to reflect a business meeting room in the Arab Emirates.
“Communication is what it’s all about, whether it is in our experiences building business partnerships or military activity, we can’t expect to be successful if we can’t properly communicate and relate to our audience,” Simmons said.
Role players talked with the Chamber representatives and shared chai tea while a noisy ambience of bustling streets blared over a nearby speaker. Their task was to quickly negotiate a business trade with a culture that is more focused on pleasantries than business. In addition, they also underwent a checkpoint exercise to show the difficulty in interacting with culture communication.
“My heart was pounding the entire time!” exclaimed Evans. “That was a very real look at how foreign relations are very complex and dangerous without training.”
The meeting concluded with a newfound relationship of cross-cultural competence, which inspired the AFCLC and MACC representatives to make plans for future partnerships and shared learning.
“We came for a quick glance at what the center offered and are leaving with a wet appetite for more from this center, as well as a deep understanding of international culture and valuable training for our own business relationships in the future,” Plaskett said after the meeting.
“Local partnerships like these are strengthening businesses, military capabilities, and the relationships that we all influence in our daily operations,” said Col. Howard Ward, AFCLC director.
To learn more about the AFCLC, visit http://culture.af.mil