USNA News Article

USNA “Fuses” Cultural Awareness and Warfare

Jan 27, 2012

By MC3 Danian Douglas

A U.S. Naval Academy focus group has been developed to introduce midshipmen to the tactics and challenges of emerging and irregular warfare brought about by non-traditional war fighting found in conflicts around the world.

The Forum on Emerging and Irregular Warfare Studies, or FEIWS (pronounced “fuse”), is an ad-hoc, interdisciplinary group dedicated to facilitating discussions between midshipmen, faculty and staff through a series of guest speakers.

According to the Defense Strategic Guidance released Jan. 5 by the Department of Defense, the U.S. intends to focus on a broader range of challenges and opportunities in the Asia Pacific region, as well as the Middle East and North Africa.

Cmdr. Thomas Robertson, professor in the Naval Academy’s History Department and director of FEIWS, said he thinks this shifted focus means that the Navy and Marine Corps will be expected to take up more roles in the expeditionary environment as the Air Force and Army come home.

”Ethical leaders who are able to think critically and have cultural awareness will be more effective,” said Robertson.

This is why the forum was created. It specializes in attracting unique speakers, including a former U.S. Navy Seal with deployment experience in Iraq, and Afghan tribal Chief Zazai, who recently presented a lecture entitled “It.s the Tribes, Stupid: The Way Forward in Afghanistan.”

While the lectures usually include a variety of media, Zazai brought something more significant to show the midshipmen - a large scroll signed by his village’s elders indicating their support for and trust in U.S. special operations forces rather than Al-Qaida, said Robertson.

Robertson described a critical moment in his own experience as part of a joint operation building a girls. school in an Afghan village that he feels illustrates the importance of fostering cultural expertise in future officers.

“One of the officers on the team was taking pictures of the females, and you could see that it was bothering the men of the village,” he said. “That was just a lack of cultural awareness so we had to pull him back.”

The idea behind the forum is to support the cultural programs already in place at the academy, such as the International Programs Office and the Language Skills, Regional Expertise and Cultural Awareness program, both of which provide opportunities for midshipmen to immerse themselves in the language and culture of other countries.

“Being able to maintain these relationships require patience and a lot of cultural knowledge,” said Midshipman 1st Class Ian Cameron, who has traveled to 19 countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Jordan and Israel. Cameron was studying Cairo until he had to be evacuated due to the Egyptian revolution in early 2011.

“One of the hardest things about living in the Middle East is the pace of life and their concept of time and verbal commitments,” said Cameron. “If someone blows off an appointment with you, or they're late or completely forgot about you, that's not a big offense.”

“I think the academy does a great job in preparing our midshipmen with cultural awareness and regional expertise,” said Robertson. “FEIWS then brings contemporary military operations into that knowledge to say, ‘Okay, now apply your foreign expertise and apply it to situations you may face militarily.’”