VA3 Ch 3 - Cross-Cultural Awareness

Question 1

1. Understanding other worldviews has little to no impact on Airmen as they focus on completing and planning to execute a mission.
   a. True
   b. False

Answer 1

b. False.

Understanding other worldviews helps Airmen make sense of others outrageous or nonsensical ideas and see things from their point of view. This in turn helps Airmen suspend judgment which helps reduce misunderstandings and negative judgments about “the other side.

Question 2

2. Why is it important for a NCO to understand and be aware of the impact of diverse cultures as they relate to human interactions, behaviors, and mission accomplishment?

Answer 2

Knowing the impact of diverse cultures allows Airmen to work successfully with allies and defeat adversaries. Understanding culture is an increasingly important component of this knowledge; indeed, the more unconventional the adversary (and the more diverse from US cultural norms), the more important it is for the US military to understand the adversary’s society and underlying cultural dynamics as a means of ensuring operational success.
Cultural awareness can reduce battlefield friction and the fog of war. It can improve the military’s ability to accomplish its mission by providing insight into the intent of the groups in the battlespace, thus allowing military leaders to outthink and out maneuver them. In addition, the success of US military operations calls for American military members to become experts in not only the culture of their adversaries, but also in the culture of their allies, civilian counterparts, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations, and others.

Question 3

3. List Twelve Domains of Culture.

Answer 3

The Twelve Domains of Culture are:
• Family and Kinship
• Religion and Spirituality
• Sex and Gender
• Political and Social Relations
• Economics and Resources
• Time and Space
• Language and Communication
• Technology and Material
• History and Myth
• Sustenance and Health
• Aesthetics and Recreation
• Learning and Knowledge

Question 4

4. List three characteristics of culture that shape worldviews and impact mission success.

Answer 4

Characteristics that shape worldviews are:
• Our ideas about who has the authority in a group
• How ‘truth’ is defined and presented to others
• How people define beauty, good, evil and deviance
• Causality beliefs that certain actions or situations cause other events
• The meaning and value of human life
• The place of spirit and mind in our belief systems and education
• People’s definition of the “good life”
• Human relationships to the Creator, to the Cosmos, and to other Humans
• How do people gain power, prestige, and legitimacy
• How much are people believed to act as independent agents
• Does sorcery exist
• Definitions of violence and coercion
• The degree to which people are expected to submit to authority
• The role of the individual versus the collective
• Relative importance of rules and relationships

Question 5

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Language and Communication

Answer 5

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 6

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Political and Social Relations

Answer 6

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 7

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Sustenance and Health

Answer 7

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 8

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Religion and Spirituality

Answer 8

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 9

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Economics and Resources

Answer 9

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 10

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Family and Kinship

Answer 10

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 11

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ History and Myth

Answer 11

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 12

5. Match the correct Domain of Culture for each related example of the Domain.

____ Sex and Gender

Answer 12

a. roles
b. verbal & non-verbal
c. food & drink production
d. children
e. creation
f. status & leadership
g. rituals
h. redistribution

Question 13

6. Give one example of how religion and culture have influenced the world.

Answer 13

Influence of religion and culture on/around the world.

Question 14

7. Give one example of how religion and culture has influenced Joint Operations.

Answer 14

As a result of religion and culture influence, Joint Operations have included/provided culture specific training, cultural awareness training, language training, policies, procedures, and plans must now consider and/or encompass cultural considerations that include local culture, sister service culture, multinational, and allies.

Question 15

TSgt Jonson is about to deploy for the first time. Not wanting to make the same cultural mistakes, others in his unit have made while deployed, he memorized the Air Force Cultural and Language Center’s field guide on Afghanistan’s culture. He also visits a local Afghan community in the States to practice what he has learned and establishes a great working relationship with the Afghan community.
TSgt Jonson’s actions BEST illustrate effective application of the:
a. AF Cross-Cultural Competence Model
b. Learning and Knowledge Domain of Culture
c. Political & Social Relations Domain of Culture

Answer 15

THE CORRECT ANSWER IS A

REASON: According to the Cross-Cultural Awareness chapter, Air Force Cross-Cultural Competence Model illustrates how you can influence your environment through active learning approaches coupled with knowledge and motivation. TSgt Jonson has demonstrated that by taking what he has learned from the pamphlet developed by the Air Force Cultural and Language Center and applying it in the local Afghan community. His initiative in doing so exemplifies a motivation of an Airman wanting to make a positive difference in a deployment.

Question 16

Special Agent Mirza is deployed overseas and working closely with local tribes to gather intelligence on rebel forces who threaten US Operations in the area. Special Agent Mirza must meet with one of the tribal elders to build a health clinic in exchange for information on local insurgents. Special Agent Mirza remembers that he must wait for the tribal elder to hug him before beginning the meeting. He notices the tribal elder appears frustrated with him so he quickly lowers his eyes as a sign of respect and then they sit down and begin the meeting.
Special Agent Mirza’s ______________ will MOST LIKELY _____________.
a. Negotiation; increase his effectiveness
b. Relation; slightly increase unit effectiveness
c. Communication; increase mission effectiveness

Answer 16

THE CORRECT ANSWER IS C

REASON: According to the Cross-Cultural Awareness chapter, knowledge alone is insufficient to achieve cross-cultural competence. To exert positive influence in culturally complex environments, Airmen must be able to “operationalize” their knowledge. Special Agent Mirza uses the skill of communicating to avoid misunderstandings with the tribal elder. His work increases his unit’s effectiveness and accomplishes the mission.