Development of intercultural competence in the Lithuanian Armed Forces

• Žurnalo archyvas: straipsnio tekstas

ENIntercultural competence is culture-general knowledge, skills, abilities, developed through education, training, and experience that provide the ability to operate effectively within a culturally complex environment. In order to perform their duties effectively and efficiently, military personnel often have to operate in a cultural environment that is unusual for them. The research conducted in Lithuania on the issue of intercultural competence development in the military mainly focuses on the analysis of the concept of intercultural competence and the problem of its development; however, little analysis has been done from a managerial point of view. The aim of this article is to identify the main problems and possible opportunities for the development of intercultural competence in the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The qualitative research chosen to achieve this aim is a semi-structured in-depth interview. 10 informants - military personnel (n=10) participated in the research. The research was conducted in February and March 2022. The results of the interviews with the military personnel show that intercultural competence is expressed in terms of language skills, knowledge of other cultures, the ability to communicate and integrate with other cultures, and the ability to quickly apply intercultural knowledge to real-life situations. However, the informants also pointed out that this alone is insufficient. They indicated that experience and knowledge of general patterns of behaviour and thinking in certain critical situations is also very important.According to the informants, the Lithuanian Armed Forces lack continuous and ongoing development in this area and advance preparation for future activities in intercultural environments. In their opinion, this should not be left to the personal responsibility of the military personnel but should be organised at institutional level. This can be achieved by combining the theoretical and practical levels, by providing guide lines for the development of intercultural competence in the strategic operational documents of the armed forces, through the organisation of courses or specialised training, the sharing of experiences, or the analysis of case studies of lessons learned. Key words: intercultural competence, military personnel, Lithuanian Armed Forces, cultural awareness, methods of development of intercultural competence. [From the publication]