Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Flying with Marines: A Culture Smart Card
Posted by Brian Cronin on Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 1:05 AM
On the first leg of the 24-hour journey to Amman, Jordan, I sat next to a Marine officer who had recently returned from a 12-month tour of Afghanistan and was now flying home, after having spent a month (immediately following his tour) training with German soldiers in Mountain Home. While I had intended to bury myself in my Lonely Planet Guide to Jordan, the officer, whom we’ll call Tim, seemingly wanted to engage me. I was happy to indulge, as I suspected he might have some insights into (or at least strong opinions about) the Middle East.
We spoke for most of the flight, with Tim mostly indulging my curiosity as he told tales of his tours in Afghanistan, Somalia, and in Operation Desert Storm. It was clear he loved his country, respected our president (and voted for him), and felt a deep sense of pride in being a Marine. It was also clear that he had little optimism for “victory” (however one defines it) in either Iraq or Afghanistan. And ultimately, when the inquiry turned to me, he grappled with the question that seemed to be eating away him, but which he posed to me indirectly, on several occasions: “Why would you willingly choose to travel to the Middle East?”
It wasn’t that he disliked the people of Iraq or Afghanistan. Not at all. But he somewhat forlornly acknowledged that in his position, it simply wasn’t possible to ever truly earn the trust or goodwill of the people he was ostensibly there to protect. Nor could he, facing the constant threat of a surprise insurgent attack, ever really trust the people in those communities, no matter how much he might come to understand or appreciate their culture.
Tim wanted me to understand that he wasn’t some stereotypical ethnocentric solider, insensitive to the culture in which he was operating. In fact, he gave me his “Culture Smart Card—A Guide for Communication and Cultural Awareness”—published by Department of Defense for both Iraq and Afghanistan. He wanted me to know that the stereotypes were not true—that he and his men were not only attuned to world events but culturally aware and sensitive to the challenges of cross-cultural communication.
But he realized that being a soldier in someone else’s country was not a way to build bridges across cultures. And it seems that his experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, which, based on his descriptions, sounded terrifying and traumatic, had certainly colored his views of the entire region, such that he was imagining our educational mission to Jordan as akin to a tour of duty in Kandahar.
He wondered aloud, “You don’t seem the slightest bit nervous. Why is that?” I suspect it’s a question that some friends and acquaintances also wondered, upon hearing of my trip, but didn’t have the guts to ask. In other words, “You’re going to the Middle East—don’t you fear for your safety?”
I explained that Jordan is an increasingly popular tourist destination for Westerners, a relatively reliable U.S. ally, and an oasis of stability and peace in an otherwise tough neighborhood. King Hussein was a peacemaker and his son King Abdullah II seems to be following in his footsteps. But he didn’t seem convinced.
In addition to the Culture Smart Cards, Tim shared with me his pocket guide to detecting and dealing with IEDs. I suspect that he was looking for an excuse to rid his bag of this haunting remnant of his last tour, but he had momentarily unnerved me. Was I perhaps being a bit naïve about this journey?
I’d have another 20 hours of travel to ponder that question.
Comments (1)
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I suspect that you would have had some trepidation about visiting Jordan if you were a young female. My daughter studied last semester at university in Amman. Before sending her there we did some research and felt reasonably comfortable because of the reasons you mentioned. While she was there she felt safe in the home of the wonderful family who hosted her, and she felt relatively safe on campus. Otherwise, in spite of her attempts to "blend" by wearing modest clothing, she was constantly harassed by Middle Eastern men who seemed to think she was "fair game" simply because she was a young, Western, female. I would advise extreme caution to female travelers to the Middle East. It is not a place to travel alone.
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