The mission of CULP (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 this exercise was to build relations with the Indonesian military while increasing the TNI’s ability to deal with the peacemaking tasks they would encounter in their upcoming deployment to Lebanon.
Key Tasks: Test and improve the Officers’ English speaking skills.
Work as OPFOR to assist the TNI in learning about IEDs and the current war on terror.
Reaffirm alliances with key countries in PacifiCom.
Cadet Kiemen and the other 21 deployed cadets will create a positive image of the ROTC program and of soldiers of the United States Army and increase their domain knowledge of foreign cultures.
Exercise Garuda Shield was a success. The Officers were able to use their English speaking skills in situations that directly pertain to the military. The TNI soldiers gained experience in dealing with the dangers that they would face while deployed as peacekeepers. The cadets gained as experience that will aid them in teaching soldiers and working with foreign military forces, as well as valuable tactical knowledge.
Cadet Kiemen, along with 21 other cadets, spent 32 days on this CULP Deployment, 21 days of which were in Indonesia. The trip began with 6 days at Ft. Knox Kentucky, IOT complete necessary tasks to increase domain knowledge about their destination. The first 14 days in country, the cadets were housed in barracks on a TNI military compound. During this time they worked closely with the TNI to develop connections with the officers and enlisted men. The last 7 days of the overseas portion was spent exploring the culture of Indonesia, including visiting the Akademi Militer, the Military training school that every TNI officer graduates from, to observe their Change of Command ceremony. The group then returned to the United States to debrief and reacclimatize to the 12 hour time zone difference. Cadet Kiemen performed commendably, and received the overseas training ribbon for his part in Exercise Garuda Shield.