U.S. Soldiers to ‘Go Native’ on Operations
04.15.2013 at 06:54pm
U.S. Soldiers to 'Go Native' on Operations by Paul D. Shinkman, U.S. News and Word Report.
… "The Army is beginning to regionally align its forces with the goal of increasing both the quantity and the quality of forces available to combatant commanders," according to text within the FY 2014 Defense Budget Overview. "Simply described, the Army will align units with specific geographic combatant commands based on existing assignments, relationships established through the State Partnership Program, or anticipated demand."…
What an unfortunate title to this article. When people talk like that it illustrates a lack of understanding of the work that is done with indigenous forces (whether military, police, or paramilitary – or resistance forces). Good Soldiers do not “go native.” Growing a beard or other such actions do not indicate going native. Having cultural understanding and cultural respect does not mean going native. The irony is that most do not want US forces to come in and act like them. The most important thing is that Soldiers respect the culture even if they do not know it. But “going native” undercuts the credibility of US units and it is unfortunate that the headline editor of US News wrote this headline and caused a distraction from the important points about what the Army is doing with the regionally aligned force (RAF).