Immersion turning out culturally savvy officers

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Kristen D. Duncan
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  Traveling to a foreign country, speaking the native tongue and understanding the culture are dreams to some people.

But thanks to an Air Force program, line officers have the opportunity to turn those dreams into reality.

Language and Area Studies Immersion is a program designed to build a force of culturally savvy officers who can communicate in a dynamic global environment.

"Foreign language and cultural skills are critical enablers of global air and space operations," said Bruce Lemkin, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for international affairs. "These are core competencies needed of our Airmen and provide capabilities and effects that can be as significant as the advanced weapon systems we field."

The four- or six-week program immerses officers in a foreign country with intense language training and cultural excursions. Classes run for four hours in the morning with an hour of one-on-one tutoring in the afternoon.

Cultural excursions may take students from the Carthaginian ruins in Tunisia or to the Great Wall of China -- and anywhere in between.

"The ability to speak to a person in their native language conveys a sense that you care about them and their culture," said 1st Lt. Andrew Hudson, a communications officer from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. He studied French in Tunisia.

"As officers it is a tremendous benefit to be able to understand and operate in foreign environments and cultures," he said.

A part of the International Affairs Specialist Program, which develops officers with international skills, the LASI program gives officers from all line career fields an opportunity to continue the study of a language while only being away from their job for one month.

To date, there have been 40 languages taught at 39 locations worldwide. For 2006, there are 19 languages being offered in 18 countries.

"The amount you learn on immersion is astounding -- everywhere you go, the knowledge you learned in the classroom was reinforced -- by reading billboards, taking a taxi or buying food," said Capt. Laurie Wax, Defense Language Institute mobility officer. He went to Tunisia to study Arabic.

“The language becomes less of a thought process and more automatic," he said.

Air Force chief of staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley fully supports the program.

"IAS officers will be essential to front-line expeditionary air and space operations of the 21st century," the general said.

The program falls in line with plans set forth by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to expand the department’s language programs.

"We simply must develop a greater capacity for languages that reflect the demands of this century," Secretary Rumsfeld said earlier this year in announcing the Defense Language Transformation Roadmap. "No technology delivers this capability. It is a truly human skill that our forces must have to win and that we must have to keep the peace."

Captain Wax said, "Understanding cultures outside of America begins by understanding languages. It's not fair to expect the rest of the world to speak English. It's a sign of respect when people take the time to study the language of another country.”

LASI is open to all line commissioned Air Force officers with a Defense Language Proficiency Test score from 1/1 to 2+/2+. To learn more about the LASI program and the International Affairs Specialist Program, go to the International Airmen Website on the Air Force Portal at: www.my.af.mil/iaw/iaw