The mission of CULP or (Cultural Understanding Language Proficiency) was to immerse ourselves in the culture of another country and to learn about their day-to-day lives and history.
The purpose of CULP was to visit different military regiments throughout Portugal and to gain awareness as well as a better understanding of a different nations culture and customs.
Key Tasks: Inform Portuguese Officers and NCOs on what Army R.O.T.C was. Tour historical military museums and monuments. Also, visit multiple Portuguese Military Regiments throughout Portugal.
The endstate was to gain a better understanding of the culture and customs of the Portuguese. It was also to inform the Portuguese Military as to what Army R.O.T.C does.
The tours, Regiment visits, and interaction with the Portuguese Military, that cadets from multiple Universities experienced, greatly expanded our knowledge and awareness, of how the Portuguese conduct themselves and their culture. Furthermore, CULP allowed cadets the opportunity to immerse themselves in another culture so they would have a better understand of a different culture. This would help future officers work better if they were to work with joint forces while stationed abroad or at home.
On 1JUN12 18 Cadets and Two Cadre members departed the United States and headed toward Lisbon. Our first week in Lisbon was spent at the Portuguese Military Academy followed by multiple tours around the area which consisted of visiting: Palacio da Pena (Sintra) Belem, Castelo Sao Jorge, and a Naval/Army Museum. We then had the great opportunity to visit the Commando Training Center where we were able to repel, learn hand-to-hand combat, and observe a Squad Ambush. Later in the week we visited our first Regiment which was Air Defense Artillery Regiment 1. We finished up our first week by visiting Queluz Palace and toured Torres Vedras Battle Site. Our second week consisted of traveling North to Porto where we stayed in the Porto Officers Club. During this week we took a River cruise toward Spain down the Douro river. We then, visited Artillery Regiment 5, Cavalry Regiment 6, Infantry Regiment 13 (which we had the opportunity to ride in a Pandur) and The Special Operations Center where we observed a Squad breach and clear a room. At the end of the week, our group toured Bragas cultural sites and toured Lamengo cultural sites. Our third and final week was spent in Tomar and Algarve. We stayed at an Officers Military Resort which was located on the coast. At the start of this week we toured Infantry Regiment 15 and Infantry Regiment 1. During the middle and later half of the week we took multiple tours of Tomar (Templar Castle/Convent), Fatima, visited Sagres and Cabo Sao Vicente and spent a day at the beach. Our group then departed Lisbon and headed back to Fort Knox on 21JUN12.