Quote Originally Posted by jenniferro10 View Post
When Mr. Owen objects to cultural training and calls it "impossible", he makes a good point. However, the fact is that cultural training is a requirement of COIN, welcomed by servicemembers engaged in training local counterparts, and a permanent part of the operations planning process (the decisions for which are being made at much lower rank than they were even 5 years ago). Ship: sailed.
I do not say it is impossible. I'm saying that like most things the "WOW-COIN" generation has stumbled across, the intent is good, but the execution and understanding, are usually either wrong or over stated.

a.) What do we mean "culture?" - it's a woolly imprecise term of no actual use to soldiers, in the context it is being used.

b.) The primary requirement is to teach soldiers how not to cause offence or make situations worse by being rude or disrespectful.

c.) The British Army did this for 200 years and took it for granted, when and where it actually mattered, and it was done via local language training - in theatre, to officers.

We're close to making "COIN" into a pseudo-science, (some already have) and we need to start getting rid of some of the rubbish attached to that. IMO, ditch the "cultural competence/understanding" stuff and instead boil it down to:

  • Language training (3 levels)
  • RELEVANT Local beliefs, customs and courtesies.


Keep it simple and effective.