Christopher A. Filipietz

Beyond Bombs, Bullets and Planes: Developing "Airmen-statesmen" for the 21st Century Christopher A. Filipietz

In response to lessons learned, the U. S. Air Force (USAF) launched a comprehensive program, in 2009, to make all Airmen cross-culturally competent (3C). As part of this program, the USAF has included cultural training in all levels of professional military education (PME), expanded the cultural training content of pre-deployment training courses, and begun adjusting doctrine to better reflect the need for cultural considerations in planning and conducting operations. While this approach is a step in the right direction, it is not without flaws that may prevent it from meeting the needs of the 21st Century. By relying on the PME system to deliver cultural training, the program does not adequately support the continuous learning process needed to become 3C. In addition, the program fails to address the motivational aspect of cultural learning. In only addressing the cognitive and behavior aspects, the program misses opportunities to develop greater cultural understanding through self-initiated study. Finally, the program lacks an effective method or tool to assess, categorize, and track each Airman's cultural skills. Without these tools, the USAF will be unable to accurately gauge program success, will miss opportunities, to enhance each Airman's cultural skills, and will continue to inefficiently use personnel resources.