Cultural heritage training in the US military

Abstract

Cultural competence is a vital component of many missions in today’s military. Cultural competence enables one to further a mission, save resources, and save lives. Conversely, a lack of cultural competence may bring about challenges to mission completion, requirement for more resources, waste of resources, and destruction of lives. Cultural competence involves many components. One particular component is cultural heritage awareness and protection of cultural property. This study sought to assess current understanding of cultural property protection and determine the effectiveness of a training aimed at increasing cultural property protection awareness, knowledge, and comfort within the military setting. It was hypothesized that participants would vary in their level of awareness, knowledge, and comfort of cultural property protection, and that all would show a significant improvement in knowledge scores post training. Factors such as deployment experience were examined for potential correlation with measures such as awareness. A 14 question pre-read survey was developed to assess participants’ demographics, awareness, knowledge, and comfort with cultural property protection. Awareness included value, laws, and procedures while knowledge examined “know how” such as how to bed down in a protected structure or communicate information about the structure. Comfort assessed one’s comfort with engaging in the knowledge based tasks. A 24 question post read survey was administered to assess awareness, knowledge, and comfort, and to solicit additional feedback on the manual itself. The survey utilized a 1–5 rating scale with 1 representing no awareness, knowledge, or comfort and 5 representing absolute awareness, knowledge, and comfort with different aspects of cultural property protection. Cultural property protection value was highest pre and post training while knowledge regarding recovery of property was rated lowest pre and post training. Results are encouraging for the pursuit of cultural property education. Further studies should include knowledge assessment versus self rating as well as tracking of incidents and outcomes in the field. Implications for mission readiness and success are discussed.

Optimising Combat Readiness: Practical Strategies for Integrating Physiological and Psychological Resilience in Soldier Training

“…Furthermore, incorporating cultural and linguistic training is imperative, particularly for military operations conducted in diverse global environments. Since soldiers frequently engage with local populations, possessing a nuanced understanding of cultural subtleties and effective communication skills is pivotal for mission success and fostering positive relations [ 88 ]. Real-world training initiatives, encompassing language courses and immersive cultural exercises, have consistently demonstrated their effectiveness in augmenting soldiers’ capabilities to operate adeptly in foreign environments.…”

“…Real-world training initiatives, encompassing language courses and immersive cultural exercises, have consistently demonstrated their effectiveness in augmenting soldiers’ capabilities to operate adeptly in foreign environments. By honing linguistic proficiency and cultural acumen, soldiers bolster their effectiveness in the field and contribute to fostering diplomatic and cooperative relationships, essential components in the intricate landscape of contemporary military endeavours [ 88 ]. Finally, integrating unmanned systems and robotics into training underscores the dynamic evolution of modern warfare.…”