Original Youtube video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qSPQOrmvHE&feature=related

One quick comment about the Culture Smart Card. While better than nothing, there is an inherent risk in the oversimplification required to reduce a culture to something that can fit in your pocket. Dr. Rochelle Davis of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University pointed out at the recent TRADOC Culture Summit that the section on Male Dress was so grossly oversimplified as to be completely wrong. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for instance, regularly wears a white keffiyeh, but we certainly wouldn’t want to judge then that he had not made the Hajj.

These cards demonstrate the military’s long-standing desire to make products that are “soldier-proof”. But as I said, they are better than nothing. The interactive language programs, like Tactical Iraqi, are even better, especially when coupled with live interaction with Iraqis, Afghanis, etc. living in the U.S. These are the best means for equipping soldiers with the basic language and interpersonal skills needed to navigate in a strange environment – at least beyond those skills we hope they developed during their upbringing.

Whether we want our soldiers there or not–indeed whether they want to be there or not–they are there. Anything we can do to better equip them with the skills that can help them cope with the environment and avoid offenses while allowing them to build relationships as a means of speeding our transition and ultimate departure is better than sending them into a foreign socio-cultural landscape unprepared.

With a smartcard every soldier can log onto a secure server with every Rosseta Stone course, and cultural briefs you can take towards promotion points. All the courses you completed would add promotion points to your personal record.

There was an interesting documentary series on PBS called, “Operation Homecoming,” in which visual media were set to essays and various things that soldiers wrote about their experiences as a part of their therapy. I personally think that the series is the future of visual anthropology, but it wasn’t done by anthros. One of the soldiers wrote an essay that blends the things he was taught about the culture of the place by the army, with the things he learned on the ground. It’s titled “What Every Soldier Should Know.” It’s very powerful. The one that relates to this story is here: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/594991/what_every_soldier_should_know/

@ Rick. Yeah, I’m from Texas too. The first thing I thought was “taco truck.”

Great roundup.

A post on the “Culture Smart Card” and the Army’s Arabic language video games that simulate a variety of social encounters with Iraqis (both of which I heard about years ago, but never have I seen them until now).

My mother received a preliminary iteration of the Smart Card when her Guard unit was activated during the Gulf War. I remember my department’s listserve had a thread going about the Smart Cards a couple of years ago. The tone was generally derisive—”Ha! They didn’t even know that!?!” But I remember that my mother and I were honestly fascinated by the pamphlet when she brought it home. I particularly recall how interesting we found the injunction against offering things with the left hand. In retrospect it was an early encounter with ethnology, though I wouldn’t learn the word for a few years.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Bokete7

http://www.facebook.com/onlyinthevalley#!/photo.php?pid=31240312&o=all&op=1&view=all&subj=279557454971&aid=-1&id=1434998960&fbid=1480582661273