ABSTRACT
Cross-cultural competence (3C) has become an imperative for successful execution of security and stabilization missions around the world. On 10 August 2011, the SECDEF released a memo stating, “As a minimum, both military and civilian personnel should have cross-cultural training to successfully work in DoD’s richly diverse organization and to better understand the global environment in which we operate.” However, only a limited number of avenues exist to build and sustain 3C throughout the Department of Defense (DoD). To address this need, the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) and the Defense
Language and National Security Education Office (DLNSEO) developed a knowledge portal that provides contemporary 3C resources tailored to the operational needs of DoD personnel. To this end, the portal facilitates 3C through education and training, assessments, and leadership resources, as well as relevant 3C news and operationally relevant research. The portal content is based on 3Crelated theory as well as empirical inquiries conducted by DEOMI and DLNSEO in regard to the needs of DoD personnel, primarily military.
