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ZARQA, Jordan – Nestled in the hills, far away from the busy city streets of Amman, Soldiers work hand-in-hand with the Jordanian Armed Forces, educating U.S. service members on Arabic culture at the Peace Operations Training Center. .
Each year individuals from units throughout the U.S. military services come to Jordan to participate in combined training designed to increase service members' Arabic cultural sensitivity.
"Our close relationship with Jordan allows us to send servicemembers through the POTC, where they're provided realistic and thorough cultural awareness training that is essentially tailored for them," said Lt. Gen. James Lovelace, U.S. Army Central commanding general.
The students are exposed to all elements – male, female and child role players who speak Arabic, desert environment, and even buildings that resemble those found in Iraq – which creates very realistic training, said Maj. Alfredo Ferrer, POTC operations officer, U.S. Army Central.
According to Lt. Col. Alex Williams, USARCENT chief of training, senior leaders usually attend the first week of training and junior leaders attend the last five weeks.
Day one of the training is a tour around Jordan to immerse the students in the culture of the country.
During days two through six, students receive a series of classes in the morning on the Arabic language they will use during the afternoon training. The Situational Training Exercises, or STXs, consist of building searches, mounted patrols, entry control points, counter insurgency operations and counter improvised explosive device training. The students are broken into four groups and rotated through the scenarios. They participate in one STX lane per day. At each training site, the service members are surrounded by Jordanian role players speaking Arabic; the challenge is to communicate with the Jordanians and get through the scenario safely.
On the final day, the U.S. service members participate in a panel discussion with the Jordanians and receive certificates during a closing ceremony.
The training is evolving, said Jordanian Armed Forces Col. Ali Al-Mahasneh, commandant, POTC. The staff updates the training using new lessons learned from Iraq. Almost everything from the original curriculum developed in 2003 has been upgraded as the needs of service members changed.
The instructors, both American and Jordanian, said they receive positive feedback from those who participate in the training. The most common response they hear is, "if I had gotten this training before I went to Iraq, I would have done things differently," or "it wouldn't have been as bad," explained Ferrer.
"I love it when you feel like you are doing something beneficial for everyone," Jordanian Armed Forces Lt. Col. Jamal Momani, POTC course director, said. "We care about the lives of Americans and Iraqis. That is why we do this."
Momani also believes the most important part of the cultural training is learning and practicing the Arabic language. Momani explained the Americans are already trained to be Soldiers, but this training helps them be sensitive to the Arabic culture.
"The mission, in many parts of Iraq, was different in 2003 compared to now," Williams said. "We were knocking down doors in 2003. Now we are transitioning to handing over control to Iraqis. It is less of a combat mission now and there is more of a need to win the minds, hearts and trust of the Iraqis. If you make the attempt to communicate, it goes a long way in building trust."
Lt. Col. Hussain Bashabsheh, a Jordanian Armed Forces POTC instructor and officer-in-charge of the entry control point STX lane, believes face-to-face communication and talking to each other like individuals is important.
"Look them in the eye and smile. You will build bridges," he said.
Not only does this type of training allow people to learn about each other's culture, it also helps break down stereotypes.
"Once you communicate, you learn who we are," he explained. "You realize we are alike. Behind the BDU's, you are human."
"We need to talk about things that bring us together, not apart. We should always focus on the human aspect," Bashabsheh said.
The staff at the POTC has trained approximately 2,800 service members since the start of the program in 2003 and has trained approximately 600 individuals this year. Each weekly group averages between 85 and 100 participants.
All services are welcome to attend the training, which can hold a maximum of 120 students, Williams said, but the target for the training is service members scheduled to deploy to Iraq within the next 12 to 18 months.
"The demand to come to this course was great," Ferrer said. "We had 672 who signed up for the class and 400 on standby."
Because of the popularity of the class, there is talk of expanding the program. It is still being determined how or if it will be lengthened or if more centers will be created in other countries.
"Certainly, we want to leverage fully the POTC program and its capabilities," Lovelace said. "We're considering several courses of action to do this, courses of action that are viable for both the U.S. and the JAF. A decision has not been made and options are still under review."
Jordan has been part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission since 1989, Al-Mahasneh said. As the years passed, the peacekeeping mission became broader and from 1992 to 1995 three battalions were utilized for peacekeeping missions. More than 50,000 members of the Jordanian Armed Forces, of all ranks, have participated in these types of missions. Some of these missions include creating field hospitals and other humanitarian missions.
"What we are doing for American Soldiers is what we do for our Soldiers before they do peacekeeping missions," Momani said.
The Jordanian Armed Forces also sends mobile training teams to train Australians, British, Romanians and sometimes, on a case-by-case basis, units in the United States, Al-Mahasneh said.
This unique training environment benefits everyone involved – instructors and students, Americans and Jordanians – it is a learning experience for everyone who works in this training environment.
"Not only do the Americans learn from us," Al-Mahasneh explained, "we learn from them also."
The lesson learned? That we may live in a different cultural environment, speak a different language and look different, but we are all human. Being able to communicate with each other is the key to success, Bashabsheh explained.
"I believe in talking," Bashabsheh said. "Let's make friends, not enemies. Let's give our human side a chance. We can (make) a lot of friends when we focus on the human side."
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2008 04:30 |
| Story ID: | 20862 |
| Location: | ZARQA, KW |
| Web Views: | 519 |
| Downloads: | 450 |
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