Key Culture-general Interactional Skills for Military Personnel

AbstractThere is increasing awareness in the U.S. Department of Defense and across the service branches that members of a twenty-first century military need to be able to communicate effectively with adversaries as well as allies, strangers as well as partners in multinational operations. We argue it is preferable to provide training that will be “culture-general,” preparing military personnel to succeed wherever they are deployed. Drawing on prior research findings and new field research at Army and Marine Corps role play-based training sites, this paper outlines interactional skills that are useful in any cross-cultural situation, but have particular utility in military contexts, across various cultures, languages, and contexts. We discuss three overarching sets of skills that aid military personnel in achieving more successful communication with counterparts from a different background: (1) observing and adapting to unfamiliar norms, (2) building rapport, and (3) recovering from trouble in interaction