Service members and non-governmental organization volunteers embarked aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) participated in cultural awareness training June 10-14 in preparation for Continuing Promise 2015 (CP15) mission stops in El Salvador and Colombia.

Instructors from the Center for Language, Regional Expertise and Culture (CLREC) provided information and guidance on customs, greetings and other social considerations for working with patients and providers in the different nations that Comfort is visiting during the CP-15 mission.

CLREC, a directorate of the Center for Information Dominance, provides language and cultural training to commands to introduce personnel to new countries.

"We were contracted by the Navy to provide cultural training in order to prepare everyone on the ship for working with civilians in each of the countries," said Coleman Cosgrove, a CLREC instructor. "The better you can interact with your patients, the more comfortable they will feel around you. Better communication can result in the higher level of patient care."

The information shared during the brief will help personnel recognize what practices are acceptable in the individual cultures such as certain body gestures and how to make the proper introductions when greeting patients.

"This training establishes the fundamentals that make the Continuing Promise mission successful," said Senior Chief Sonar Technician (Surface) Eric Hartley, the event coordinator and CLREC liaison on board Comfort. "It allows us to understand the cultural differences from country to country and to better understand the residents, whether they are patients or government officials."

Cosgrove also explained that the different types of terrain in Central America, South America and Caribbean can cause problems with transportation for individuals trying to visit doctors for care.

"It is important to consider the access to care for patients that are indigenous and faced with a terrain that's difficult to travel," said Cosgrove. "Typically, physicians who practice Western medicine are located in larger cities while patients in rural areas have limited resources and treat medical issues with herbs, plants and spiritual remedies."

Throughout the course personnel learned about the different nations and their people including geography, history, peoples and ethnic groups, language, behavior and etiquette, and a cultural summary.

"Each culture has its own differences, but the more we are able to be aware of those differences the better we can avoid unintentionally offending someone when trying to help them," said Cosgrove.

Cosgrove said the the information they provide helps Sailors understand and anticipate the attitudes and actions of host nation residents by introducing the predominant values, beliefs, behaviors and norms of foreign cultures.

Culturally competent Sailors operate more effectively and are better ambassadors of the Navy and the United States.

Since its inception in 2007, the personnel at CLREC have been diligently expanding and updating their library of training materials for hundreds of countries so that Sailors are prepared for their duties, no matter where they deploy around the globe.

Continuing Promise is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet-conducted deployment to conduct civil-military operations including humanitarian-civil assistance, subject matter exchanges, medical, dental, veterinary and engineering support and disaster response to partner nations and to show the United States' continued support and commitment to Central and South America and the Caribbean.


For more news from Continuing Promise, visit www.navy.mil/.