Wolf Pack fosters ROKAF bonds with English conversation classes

by Senior Airman Katrina Heikkinen
8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

1/27/2015 - 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."