Lots of Navy dudes rolling around in civilian clothes without a care in the world? I'm going to guess Bahrain or Dubai?
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Originally Posted by Plan9
Answer: The US military doesn't teach Joe Average anything. They get a vague PowerPoint on local customs 10 minutes before they deploy to X shithole.
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Cromps pretty much nailed it. If I recall correctly, they called the program "Head Start" or something similar. It was essentially a Power Point consisting of a few helpful phrases in the local language and host-country no-no's. Ex: "In Europe it is normal for two men to kiss eachother on the cheek in greeting. If a man tries to kiss you on the cheek, don't hit him."
Soldiers are also reminded that they aren’t in Kansas anymore; there is a very real (though statistically unlikely) threat of being targeted by terrorists, etc when they are overseas. It is suggested that they do their best to present a low profile. There is no formal training as to how to accomplish this or any kind of regulation (that I know of) requiring soldiers to do so.
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The folks rolling around in civilian clothes in hostile countries know what they’re doing and have a very defined reason for doing so. The average soldier isn’t allowed/trained to operate like that. Your average soldier is allowed to roll around unarmed and in civilian clothes in only places deemed safe for tourists, etc. The goal, then, isn’t so much stealth as it is simply lowering your profile so that most people can’t peg you as American at first glance. Most of us accomplish this simply by losing the swagger and dressing “less American” (slim-cut jeans, trading Nike’s for Puma’s, backpacks for man purses, baseball caps for cabbie hats).
For what it’s worth, the guys you can easily pick out on the street are most likely younger guys. They are fresh out of basic and so are convinced that they are highly-trained killing machines. They are proud to be an American and aren’t going to tone it down to fit in because, damnit, these colors don’t run! Whenever you allow a group of young soldiers to wander freely without adult supervision, their collective IQ can only be explained as “multiplying fractions”.