KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea –
"Do you know the state of Michigan?" asked Airman 1st Class Scott Hudson, 8th
Logistics Readiness Squadron petroleum, oils and lubricants apprentice. "I'm
from Detroit," he said, shaking hands with a 38th Fighter Group Republic of
Korea air force member.
Every weekend for two hours, more than 20 ROK and
Wolf Pack Airmen make their way to the Sonlight Inn for English conversational
classes. Although nearly every member greets their counterpart with a forced
approach, by the end of class, the foundation of a personal friendship is
made.
"We're trying to improve the bonds between the U.S. Air Force and
ROKAF here," said Senior Airman Seung Hoe Lee, 38th FG secretary. "This is one
of those rare opportunities for us to get to know each other that isn't a
training scenario. I have seen every new [ROKAF] recruit that has entered this
base and about less than 10 percent can speak English and about four percent can
speak fluently. The rest have no prior knowledge."
Revamped by Lee,
Master Sgt. Nancy Connell, 8th Medical Operations Squadron environmental
engineering element chief, and Senior Airman Sam Han, 38th FG translator, class
attendance has increased by 300 percent since November 2014 when they took
over.
"In the past there wasn't any structure -- we just met and talked,"
Lee said. "There was no direction. Now, we're trying to give it a little bit
more depth. We've started to think of topics including holidays, work and
training. Most of us [ROKAF] are university students, so our scope of the world
isn't very wide. Some of us haven't even been on an airplane. We have many
similarities -- how we spend our leisure time, being homesick and being
stationed at Kunsan. We are also away from our homes and families. We are all in
the same boat, so we might as well make that boat comfortable."
Although
the classes are currently aimed at providing an outlet for ROKAF members to
practice their English, the attendees gain not only a personal connection, but
an inherent taste of the corresponding members' culture.
"These are our
[partners]," Connell said. "We lean on them, and they lean on us. So it's
important the first time we interact with them is not when we're going to war --
it's now. [The class is] meant to build communication and build a foundation so
that they know that we care about them and they care about us. We hope to
continue this outreach and provide more opportunities for these young ROK Airmen
to participate in activities with our Airmen."