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WSJ salutes Air Force Culture and Language Center’s mobile field guides, app

By Jasmine Bourgeois, AFCLC Outreach Team / Published September 10, 2018

The free app is available for Android and iPhone devices.
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The Wall Street Journal recently recognized the Air Force Culture and Language Center’s mobile Expeditionary Culture Field Guide as being one of six ‘must-have’ apps for business travelers. The free app is available for Android and iPhone devices. (Courtesy photo)

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MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --

Titled “Six Indispensable Apps for Business Travelers,” a recent Wall Street Journal article describes the Air Force Culture and Language Center’s app as a “must have” for globe-trotters seeking worldly etiquette.

Developed by the Air Force Culture and Language Center at Air University, the Expeditionary Culture Field Guide app takes detailed culture and language tips and puts them in the traveler’s pocket.Experts at the Center developed the technology that breaks down a society based on the “12 Domains of Culture.” The app is free and available to anyone with an iPhone or Android device. To date, more than 12,600 people around the world have downloaded AFCLC’s app, which is designed to work without Wi-Fi.

“I'm always proud of our AFCLC team for the incredible work they do producing the content for our app and managing the platform,” said Howard Ward, director of AFCLC. “I'm especially happy to see a publication as prestigious as the Wall Street Journal, with two million readers daily, validate our product.”                                                                                                                      

The Center’s guides have been a staple in field readiness and training for the military since 2009, covering etiquette, religion, politics, traditions and more. Both the printed and electronic versions of the field guides have helped Airmen achieve higher levels of interoperability and strengthen partnerships with partner nation militaries and populations during deployments and in humanitarian assistance and disaster response missions. 

Currently, 46 different countries are featured in AFCLC’s app, with seven more countries in development. Users can easily select what field guides they want to download and save them to their phone.

“Our field guides, delivered through our phone app, are an important tool in setting Airmen up for success in that first crucial encounter when working with a valued partner nation,” Ward said. “I hope the Journal's readers see how the Air Force is supporting the National Defense Strategy objectives of strengthening partnerships and enhancing interoperability through helping Airmen operate seamlessly with air forces and populations around the world.” 

The Wall Street Journal featured the app in an online article, as well as in their printed newspaper, on Sept. 1, 2018. The article features several apps for travelers, highlighting that the AFCLC’s field guide app “may not be quite enough to replace a semester abroad, but it should keep you from triggering an international incident.”


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