Photo By Ensign Bryan Blair | NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY BAHRAIN (Nov. 25, 2019) Foreign action officers (FAOs) assigned...... read more read more
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Foreign action officers (FAO) assigned to Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT)/U.S. 5th Fleet’s theater security cooperation office, are diversifying their skillsets by learning basic Arabic, the sixth most common language worldwide and spoken by approximately 420 million people.
Capt. Samuel White, NAVCENT director of future operations (N5), explained that some FAOs arrive in the region without language training, in need of refresher training or new FAOs awaiting language training. By conducting regular training with FAOs on-site, they will quickly acquire the language skills they need to effectively communicate with regional partners.
In the April 2019 issue of U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine, Capt. Joshua Taylor, an FAO by trade, summarized the mission and skillset of the FAO, as well as their regional impact.
“The FAO community—375 active-duty and 50 reserve officers—was established in 2006 to act as a force multiplier by offering a small-footprint, low-cost means of enhancing fleet engagement through advanced language, regional expertise, and cultural skills,” wrote Taylor. “FAOs form relationships and gain operational perspective by leading security cooperation programs and activities with allies and partners, in this way becoming better staff subject matter experts and attachés.”
Capt. Dave Ehredt, NAVCENT N5 deputy director, emphasizes that by learning Arabic, NAVCENT FAOs will be equipped with the tools they need to build and maintain critical partnerships in the U.S. Central Command area of operations.
“"U.S. Navy FAOs are placed on forward-deployed staffs, such as NAVCENT in Bahrain, and also on U.S. Embassy country teams, to strengthen interoperability with our partners in the region and to position the United States as the partner of choice to build coalitions,” said Ehredt. “Learning Arabic facilitates those outcomes by showing our commitment to the region and our desire to communicate effectively with our partners."
The U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility encompasses nearly 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean. The region is comprised of 20 countries and includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab-al-Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen.
| Date Taken: | 11.25.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 11.27.2019 08:30 |
| Story ID: | 353719 |
| Location: | MANAMA, BH |
| Web Views: | 159 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Foreign Action Officers Sharpen Skills with a Crash Course in Arabic, by ENS Bryan Blair, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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