MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Air University and the Air Force Culture and Language Center hosted more than 350 service members, academics, scholars, and other professionals working in the LREC community for the 8th Annual Air University Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture Symposium Nov. 15-17, 2023. The event, which carried the theme “Integrated by Design,” aimed to create and strengthen the bonds with U.S. strategic allies and partners to achieve mission success.
“The coming year’s activities are foundational for developing a force where interoperability becomes second nature,” said Air Force Culture and Language Center Director Howard Ward. “A force integrated by design with our partners is required to work at speeds that force adversaries to be reactive. That force is not the product of chance; it’s the product of deliberate development and LREC is central to the effort. There is no path to achieving the desired operational outcomes of integrated deterrence, tactical or strategic, without robust culture and language skills in the force.”
Symposium featured speaker Gen. Mike Minihan, Commander, Air Mobility Command, spoke heavily on why language and culture matter on the global stage, particularly during this year’s Mobility Guardian exercise, calling it “a mosh pit of awesome.”
“We did not design Mobility Guardian to be successful. We designed it to be difficult and operate at a tempo that was extremely aggressive,” Minihan told the audience. “We learned a lot about ourselves, and it affirmed what we already knew about our partners, allies, and Airmen…they are amazing! We worked with seven partner nations, about 70 aircraft, and 3,000 Airmen. From the beginning, we integrated the Language Enabled Airman Program with its culture and language initiatives to be more successful. We didn’t get bogged down with the misunderstandings of one another. Success doesn’t happen if you don’t understand the culture, the language, and the operational approaches of the mission. That only results in awkward endings, so we had to get that part right.”
This year’s symposium welcomed attendees from eight countries, including senior leaders from the Nigerian delegation for the first time, and featured more than 80 breakout sessions led by more than 100 presenters with a broad spectrum of topics for mission readiness.
“The symposium has given me the tools necessary to make a strategic impact through language and culture,” said Japanese LEAP Scholar Master Sgt. Corey Holt, who traveled to Montgomery to attend the symposium from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. “At home, I am better prepared to mentor and grow young Airmen into LEAP Scholars and will use the knowledge I’ve gained at the symposium to deepen our nation’s bonds with our partners and allies. The crosstalk between Scholars helped me gain a broader understanding of how I could operationalize my language, which I intend to use in the immediate future.”
Other featured speakers for this year’s symposium included: Maj. Gen. Linda S. Hurry, Director of Logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Engineering and Force Protection, Headquarters U.S. Air Force; Maj. Gen. (Army, Ret.) Suzanne Vares-Lum, President, East-West Center; Chief Master Sgt. Wendell J. Snider, Senior Enlisted Leader, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Installations, Environment and Energy, Headquarters Air Force; and Dr. Montgomery McFate, cultural anthropologist and professor, Strategic and Operational Research Department, U.S. Naval War College.
The 9th Annual Air University Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture Symposium – with the theme of “Engaging the Global Landscape – Collaboration, Competition, Culture” – will return to Maxwell Air Force Base in the Fall of 2024.