Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning

The Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning (CAOCL) is a TECOM directorate and the USMC center of excellence for operational culture and language familiarization. CAOCL is tasked with ensuring that Marines are regionally focused, globally prepared, and effective at navigating and influencing culturally complex 21st-century operating environments. CAOCL provides operationally relevant products and services and accomplishes its mission by ensuring a comprehensive response to the Corps’ needs through various means.

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Seven Things To Know About the USMC’s Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning ________________________________________

CAOCL training has a huge impact on Marines’ success, regardless of mission type. What exactly does CAOCL do for the US Marine Corps?

1.	Since its inception in 2006, CAOCL provides Marines and the Marine Corps with operationally relevant regional, culture, and language familiarization capabilities across the doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facilities (DOTMLPF) combat development pillars; and allows Marines to plan and operate successfully in the culturally complex, joint and combined expeditionary environment of the 21st century, while meeting existing and emerging needs in support of national security objectives.

2.	CAOCL’s capabilities support Marine Component Commands and Combatant Commands: •	Develops and maintains the Regional, Culture and Language Familiarization (RCLF) Program for all career Marines. •	Conducts pre-deployment operational culture and language familiarization training for units deploying worldwide. •	Provides Cultural Advisor (CULAD) support for specific operations and exercises. •	Develops and maintains training and education standards.

3.	 CAOCL’s five primary core functions which support the general purpose force’s execution of missions spanning the range of military operations: •	Develops and integrates capabilities associated with operational culture and language familiarization in the force; •	Develops and maintains training and education standards; •	Develops and maintains program(s); •	Provides training and education; •	Provides operational support.

These functions include the application of the following knowledge/skill areas: •	Culture-general, •	Culture-specific, •	Regional familiarization, •	Language familiarization.

4.	 The Regional, Culture, and Language Familiarization Program (RCLF), •	RCLF is a career-long distance education program that instills, develops and sustains a basic culture and language capability in all career Marines, through the study of one of 17 global regions.

5.	 CAOCL provides CULADs in support of exercises and deployed Operating Forces: •	Cultural Advisors’ primary purpose is to provide commanders with a vetted cultural subject matter expert to assist in operational planning and to access reach-back support. They also provide in-theater refresher training to our forward deployed units to assist in sustaining critical culture and language skills.

6.	CAOCL provides a translational research capability that focuses on social science applications to support Marine Corps initiatives.

7.	CAOCL produces and publishes field guides, tactical language reference cards, and other training material for the Marine Corps’ general purpose force.

For more information on CAOCL, please visit http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/caocl/

Policy and Planning
CAOCL supports the Marine Corps in formulating policies, plans, and strategies to address regional understanding, operational culture, and language familiarization requirements across the DOTMLPF spectrum in support of the General Purpose Force.

Regional, Culture, and Language Familiarization (RCLF) Program
CAOCL serves as the administrator and coordinator of the Marine Corps RCLF Program, which is a career-long training and education program that begins at accession and instills, develops, and sustains a basic language, regional, culture (LRC) capability in our career Marines to ensure that the Corps has assets within each unit to assist in operational planning and execution in all operationally significant regions of the world. The RCLF Program is still under development but has met several key milestones on the path to full implementation, with three of six planned officer instructional blocks already launched and five enlisted instructional blocks becoming available in 2012. The initial concept was endorsed by the Commandant as described in the “Marine Corps Language, Regional and Culture Strategy 2011-2015”. As of late 2011, there are over 8,000 Marine officers with regional assignments, with enrollment set to substantially grow with the launch of the enlisted instructional block for sergeants.

Language Familiarization Training
CAOCL serves as the central point of coordination for language familiarization training for all General Purpose Force Marines other than foreign area officers and professional linguists. CAOCL uses a combination of on-staff language instructors, Defense Language Institute language instructors, and computer-based language training products to meet the operational requirements of Marines and units preparing for worldwide deployments. CAOCL language familiarization programs, regardless of method of delivery, all focus on mission-oriented tactical phrases most likely to be used by Marines during operations and exercises. In order to meet pre-deployment training requirements or home-station sustainment training requirements, CAOCL maintains Language Learning Resource Centers (LLRCs), which are technology enhanced classrooms equipped with culture and language study materials and software, at eight major Marine Corps bases and stations to facilitate culture and language training for individual Marines and units. CAOCL also provides phrase cards for ready reference in deployed environments.

Operational Culture Training
CAOCL provides operational culture training via mobile training teams for Marines and units deploying anywhere in the world, focused on those operationally relevant aspects of culture that will enhance Marines’ ability to navigate and influence a specific operating environment during the accomplishment of their missions. CAOCL provides Operational Culture—General instruction, preparing units with skills to work within any culture around the world; CAOCL provides Operational Culture—Specific classes and briefs for units who need to learn about the culture(s) they will operate within during a specific deployment and mission; and CAOCL assists units in practicing techniques for incorporating operational culture into their planning process. CAOCL incorporates the integral skills of using an interpreter, understanding and using non-verbal communications, and interacting with a foreign population into culture training. Primarily for commanders and key personnel, CAOCL also provides Key Leader Engagement training, which combines culture and language skills for effective cross-cultural communications. Additionally, CAOCL publishes and distributes a variety of cultural reference material and field guides to assist Marines while deployed or during training.

CAOCL Liaison Officers
CAOCL Liaison Officers at each Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) assist units in accessing resources, scheduling training, and fulfilling culture and language training requirements.

Operational Support
CAOCL provides subject matter experts (SMEs) in direct support of the operating forces. These SMEs assist commanders in understanding the cultural terrain of the battlespace and in planning operations; serve as evaluators and advisors during mission rehearsal exercises; assist in scenario and exercise design when requested; and provide a reach-back resource for deployed forces for issues related to operational culture. Cultural Advisors (CULADs) to MEF and GCE commanders serve as special staff officers during pre-deployment training and deploy with the units as integral members of operational staffs for specified deployments to provide personal advice to commanders and to assist in integrating operational culture into the planning process.

Professor of Operational Culture
CAOCL maintains a faculty member at Marine Corps University (MCU) for providing instruction during Professional Military Education to MCU students on the concept of operational culture and its application in Marine Corps planning and operations. The professor also conducts ongoing research on the subject of operational culture.

Translational Research Group
The Translational Research Group (TRG) supports CAOCL’s activities by providing the scientific basis and scholarship, specifically oriented on Marine Corps missions and guidance, required for training, education, policy, and programming. TRG conducts the work necessary to ensure that the globally applicable concepts and skills of social science are operationalized for use by Marines, as well as leveraging expertise from other organizations. TRG also has responsibility for developing valid assessment platforms to ensure CAOCL’s activities are meeting the needs of the operating forces. TRG brings together scientists with critical disciplinary backgrounds that are uncommon in the Department of Defense. Therefore, although focused on CAOCL, TRG’s expertise is also brought to bear on broader issues of interest to Training and Education Command, such as resiliency.