Jul 08
28
Kelmanskiy and 125 other soldiers assigned to Fort Lewis' newest Stryker Brigade Combat Team are part of a new program to teach soldiers rudimentary Arabic. The idea is that once deployed to Iraq, they'll be able to communicate with local Iraqis to help their units better distinguish between allies and enemies.
"It's a tough language," said Lt. Col. Jonathan Neumann, the battalion commander for the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. "I can introduce myself and give a couple greetings, but after that, I'm pretty much out of steam." "I knew it was going to be hard, and it is as hard as it looks," he said. "A soldier's job is to be a soldier first. To add on to that — trying to translate and switching languages — is a challenge. It's not easy."|
Fort Lewis soldiers learn Arabic to better prepare for war
Seattle Times, United States - 2 hours ago
"I think it's going to make a huge difference," said Neumann, who did a seven-month tour in Iraq in 2004. American soldiers regularly encounter ... |
