Expanding U.S. Army Language and Cultural Proficiency
Abstract
The future international security environment is increasingly characterized as one of persistent conflict where a growing number of state and non-state actors will use violence in pursuit of their objectives. To meet this challenge the U.S. Army is trying to answer the question of how to train individual soldiers to effectively meet this future challenge. As recent experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has shown, soldiers with cultural awareness and linguistic ability are critical to successful operations. This paper will examine the U.S. Army effort to meet the requirement for additional personnel with cultural awareness and language capabilities. Though the Army's various programs will be looked at, focus will be placed on the Army's efforts to home-grow officers with cultural and language training. The premise of this paper is that the plan for evolutionary expansion of the Foreign Area Officer (FAO) program will not meet future demands. To show this, FAO training methodologies, assignment practices, and forecasted requirements for officers with FAO type skills will be discussed. The paper will close with recommendations for changes in the training methodology that would build the larger force of officers with cultural and language skills required in the future.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA520000
Entities
People
- Eric D. Homan
Organizations
- United States Army War College