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Baghdad-bound Ft. Lewis soldiers learn to speak Arabic

Jan-26-2007 » Filed Under: 4/2 SBCT

By Keith Eldridge, KOMO 4 News (Includes video)

The Fort Lewis Stryker brigade getting ready to deploy to Iraq is bringing along a group of specially trained soldiers. They are all going through extensive training to be able to speak Arabic. KOMO 4 News got a rare look inside the Army's Foreign Language Training Center.

At a recent training exercise, Iraqi-Americans playing the role of Baghdad residents chanted "go home USA. Go home USA." It is the welcome these Stryker soldiers know they may get when they arrive in Iraq in a few weeks.

Right now the troops are dependent on their Iraqi interpreters to get their messages across.

But the 4th Stryker Brigade is working to be first unit with scores of soldiers speaking Arabic. 80 front line soldiers are going through intensive language training.

Spec. Peter Schmit said it arms these soldiers with the weapon of communication. "While we're dealing with people in a semi hostile environment to be able to explain to them exactly what we're doing in terms that they'll understand," he said.

"And so it's not just the weapon sitting there pointing at them, it's us at least trying to get them to understand what we're doing," Spec. Kenneth Longo added.

It's not just the language that's important. It is the understanding of the culture. You can't take American values over there and expect it to work. The Army says you have to understand what's going through an Iraqi's mind.


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