American soldiers can now get closer to their Iraqi and Afghani neighbours before their feet hit the ground. With virtual teachers, soldiers learn the lingo and the local customs at the same time... in a virtual game..
When the US Army touched down in Afghanistan in 2002, they barely spoke anything but English. When villagers ran into the streets, the soldiers, unable to communicate, couldn't work out if they were friend or foe. It was as the situation unravelled that a Californian defence professor came up with the idea of launching a "tactical language" programme www.tacticallanguage.com. Now, soldiers are briefed by their virtual counterparts in Arabic, Pashto or Dari, and given a few hints on how to follow the local customs and avoid cultural boo-boos. Former soldiers in Iraq tell us why the training isn't to be laughed at.
Jami Gibbs served in Iraq in 2005. She writes the blog Patriot Missive.
It
was shocking how ignorant we were when we arrived. We, as Americans, are
incredibly disconnected from the customs of other cultures. We are simply
not aware of the world beyond the American shores (for the most part), and being
culturally ignorant is our Achilles heal in many respects. While these military
training programmes seem elementary or comical to other more "culturally
enlightened" groups, to Americans they are valid and educational.Christopher Coppola is a paediatric surgeon. He served in Iraq.
I
would say that the most important component for valuable training, in my
opinion, is the input of an experienced professor. However, I think there are
many advantages to computer-based training. A citizen who used the official
military game actually saved a life by
using skills he learned playing it ."James Reilly works for Alelo, the company that develops the Tactical Language programmes.
We have had direct
communication with returning soldiers and Marines who credit Tactical Language
Training with saving not only the lives of military personnel, but also the
lives of the civilians by promoting better understanding and cooperation with
the local citizenry.We estimate (via our distribution channels) that over 20,000 U.S. Military personnel have trained with Tactical Iraqi, Tactical Pashto or Tactical Dari (both for Afghanistan) to some degree."
From Tactical Dari, one of the programmes for Afghanistan.
Commentaires
us army
Soumis par ANTI ILLUMINATI (non vérifié) le ven, 26/12/2008 - 12:31.that shows how american poeple are stupid, and more, for those who are involved in the us army.
go get killed for a government that doesn t care at all about his soldiers, and THAT government makes monney on your back ALL THAT BASES ON LIES EVERY BODY KNOWS THAT, AND PROOVES ARE THERE, BIG LAUGHT
AND NOW WILL YOU GO TO IRAN, SYRIA, NORTH KOREA.....
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It doesn't show how stupid
Soumis par JamiGibbs (non vérifié) le sam, 27/12/2008 - 16:02.It doesn't show how stupid the American people are. It shows how aware we are to acknowledge a weakness and the intelligence to try and fix that weakness.
I'm not quite sure what you're blathering about in the rest of your comment but your lack of constructive criticism sure does make you look like the stupid one.
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