Posted on 04/25/2006 6:45:00 PM PDT by SandRat
ZARQA, Jordan (Army News Service, April 25, 2006) – More than 300 U.S. Soldiers from U.S.- and German-based units gained greater insight into the Arabic culture at the Peace Operation Training Center in Zarqa, Jordan, March 24 through April 16.
The Cultural Awareness Course is part of U.S. Central Command’s Theater Support Cooperation Program, and is taught by Jordanian allies and Soldiers from Third Army.
“Third Army has partnered with the Jordanian Armed Forces to teach this training since October 2003, and pushes it as a key training platform and integral piece of the Forces Command training strategy for deploying Operation Iraqi Freedom forces,” said Maj. Keith Thompson, Third Army C-3 training officer.
“The overall objective is to train our Soldiers on cultural consideration, not tactics. In doing so, we hope to aid in the process of restoring diplomacy and order in the Middle East, promote multinational involvement, international cooperation and strengthen our relationships with countries in the Middle East,” Thompson added.
Soldiers receiving training were from III Corps, 1st Cavalry Division, 25th Infantry Division and 13th Corps Support Command.
The course consisted of three rotations: a senior-leaders seminar for brigade commanders, battalion commanders, sergeants major and field-grade officers, and two rotations of officer and noncommissioned officer training.
The senior-leaders seminar included a visit and panel discussion with Third Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. R. Steven Whitcomb. Students also learned such Arabic customs as: the hierarchy of tribes and structure of Iraqi society, social structure for families or tribes, women in the Arabic society, basic Arabic language and government structure.
Attendees visited the Jordanian International Police Training center, where U.S. contractors and Jordanians train Iraqi policemen to uphold law and order in Iraq.
Officer and NCO rotations also included four situational training exercises on checkpoints, building searches, mounted patrols and media.
The STX lanes focused on many aspects of Arabic culture and were taught by American observer controllers, Jordanian officers, NCOs and several Arabic role-players. Troops had to interact with them in a way that balanced the mission while respecting the culture and religious beliefs of the Arabs. Training missions involved such scenarios as searching and clearing a home, and speaking with the media about a family’s home or mosque that was being used to store money and weapon caches to support insurgency.
Jordanians have much in common with Iraqi culture
Cultural awareness training is held in Jordan because the Jordanians are familiar with their Iraqi neighbors, said Jordanian Col. Ali Mahasneh, POTC commandant.
“They are our neighboring country,” he said. “The common factors are language, history and customs, so we have a lot in common. We know a lot about their backgrounds and culture, and we help by training these forces.”
According to Col. Kevin Fagedes, Third Army deputy C-3 officer, “The goal is to prepare officers and NCOs for deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom … to prepare them to be culturally aware for when they start doing operations in conjunction with the Iraqi police and Iraqi forces so that they take the cultural aspects into consideration when working with the Iraqi people.”
Staff Sgt. Miguel Sanchez, POTC U.S. observer controller, 1st Cavalry Division, further explained the differences in this training. “What we are trying to do here at the checkpoint lane is not focus so much on the tactics, techniques and procedures, but we are trying to have these students experience what they are going to experience in Iraq,” he said. “We want them to experience the situations, the culture and the environment before they actually get in theater.”
Soldiers experience cultural differences firsthand
Soldiers had the chance to experience firsthand the cultural differences between native men and women. They learned that women represent a symbol of honor in the family while men symbolize power. Other aspects of Islamic society discussed were face-saving, food customs, wedding ceremonies, funerals and the ramifications of ignoring the culture.
Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Sollenberger, POTC student, 128th Infantry said, “The vignettes we went over in the media portion will be especially useful to me because of the different scenarios we had to walk through on a day-to-day basis.”
Sollenberger said he would incorporate his new knowledge into his unit’s training at squad- and team-levels.
Cultural awareness training could also benefit young lieutenants coming out of their officer basic branch training, added Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Land, POTC student and air defense artillery officer basic course instructor.
“I’m going to bring that (knowledge) back and run it up to our commander, the Officer Basic Course chief, and give some recommendations on where we can implement this kind of training,” he said.
(Editor’s note: Capt. Chevelle Thomas writes for the Coalition Forces Land Component Command, 11th Public Affairs Detachment.)
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