Cultural Support Team | Weapons Training

Female soldiers undergo weapons familiarization training during the Cultural Support Assessment and Selection program at United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (USAJFKSWCS), Camp Mackall, N.C.

Soldiers who complete the Cultural Support Training Course at USAJFKSWCS, Fort Bragg are assigned to Cultural Support Teams and deploy in support of U.S. Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF).

Their role in Afghanistan is to deploy alongside ARSOF units on missions that bring them into contact with the local population.

In that environment, it is more culturally-acceptable for female soldiers to interact and engage with female and adolescent civilians.

CST selection focuses on the individual's physical, mental and emotional endurance and tests their ability to think calmly and logically while under stress.

Skills taught during the 6 week Cultural Support Training Course include understanding human behavior, civil reconnaissance, working with interpreters and tactical information collection.

The specific features of the culture they are to be operating in are also taught.

As shown here, CST operators are armed, typically with M4a1 carbines and M9 pistols.

The Soldier Survivability instruction block of the Cultural Support Training Course includes individual and team weapons familiarization, defensive battle drills, communication and vision equipment familiarization, and individual and team medical training.