American, Kyrgyz service members partner to enhance communication

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan (AFNS) --  Airmen from the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing here and Kyrgyz soldiers gather twice a month to practice foreign language skills.

For the soldiers, speaking English offers a chance to exercise a skill they learned in school. For Airmen deployed here, it's a chance to learn the language of their host country, one most of them had never encountered before arriving here.

"The Koi Tash Noncommissioned Officer School language lab is an offshoot of the larger initiative to build an enduring partnership between the school's enlisted cadre' and the enlisted corps of the Transit Center," said Chief Master Sgt. James Lucas, the 376th AEW command chief.

The biweekly language lab was established in June to increase communication between those involved in the program on a deliberately scheduled basis, the chief said.

Lucas established the partnership program after arriving here September 2010.

"Our initial engagements with the school were primarily focused on social activities and joint humanitarian projects in and around Koi Tash," Lucas said. "We now have the language lab underway and there are plans to expand into other professional development topics."

The Airmen travel from the Transit Center to Koi Tash to participate in the language labs.

"This is a great way to strengthen partnerships between our two countries and build relations," said Sergeant Erlun, a Kyrgyz soldier. "Also, this helps us increase our knowledge of your language and for you to increase your knowledge of our language. It is a very good opportunity for me to come here and learn English, so I never miss any lessons."

Like Erlun, several Transit Center Airmen make participating regularly in this language lab a priority.

"This is my focus. Some people have the Manas Area Benefit Outreach Society, some have building the schools up, but I feel like this is what my calling is -- to come here and teach the soldiers English," said Tech. Sgt. Nicole Brown, the NCO in charge of the issue section in the Expeditionary Theater Distribution Center.

Despite constant demands on the command chief's time, he continues to make the language lab a priority.

"This program is important to me on several levels, but two really stand out, First is the absolute need for today's Airmen to be comfortable in engaging with their host nation military," Lucas said. "The language lab and associated exchanges with the NCO school provide our Airmen a unique opportunity to partner with Kyrgyz enlisted members on mutually beneficial professional development activities. You can't get this kind of experience from a video or a book. You've got to experience it on the human level, and these young Airmen are learning and growing with each engagement.

"Second is the collateral benefit of promoting the capability of the enlisted force to our host nation military," he continued. "Not only the capability of our enlisted Airmen, but, even more so, the untapped potential they have within their ranks."

Lucas will turn the program over to his replacement next month before departing the Transit Center.

"I hope the partnership between the Transit Center and the Koi Tash NCO School continues to strengthen and becomes the catalyst for the professional development of our Airmen and Kyrgyz partners," Lucas said. "My memories of the language lab are centered around the extraordinary degree of cooperation exhibited by our Airmen and Kyrgyz military partners in taking the language lab from concept to reality. These young professionals aren't just reading about 'building partnerships' and 'theater security cooperation,' they are living it."