JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas —

Beyond the technical objectives of military training that many may think of when visualizing the armed services, a goal of the U.S. is to immerse our international allies and partners to the “American way of life”.

The Defense Language Institute English Language Center contributes to this immensely through its English language training for partner nation military members around the globe and through other programs outside the classroom as well.

Every year the DoD hosts thousands of international partners who train in the United States to build military interoperability here at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. Each student attending a formal course in the United States under the Security Assistance and other related programs is given the opportunity to participate in the DoD Field Studies Program. The objective is to provide a "real life" view of U.S. society, institutions, and goals, outside the classroom.

To meet this objective, DLIELC’s premier FSP will continue to give our partners the opportunity to experience our history, culture and story first hand.

DLIELC is home to the largest FSP. This program is nested in the 637th International Support Squadron. They give over 200 tours a year to students at the schoolhouse. The FSP focuses on immersing students in American culture and introducing them to American ways of life. They do this through events on campus, day tours, overnight tours, and linking students with a host family via the American Members of International Goodwill to Others (AMIGO) program. It is vital during these times that DLIELC uphold not only the instruction portion of their mission, but also cultural immersion to our partner nations—in many cases, DLIELC is a student’s first experience with the United States of America!

The FSP at DLIELC has been working hard to keep students, staff and AMIGOs connected during these distant times. Through virtual tours offered online, DLIELC FSP has begun to issue daily newsletters that takes students to places throughout Texas. For example, FSP hosted virtual tours of the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco, Texas Capital in Austin, LBJ Ranch and the San Antonio Riverwalk. In the newsletter, FSP also shared info items on things like Longhorn cattle and bluebonnets.

This enabled FSP to extend their mission to the socially distanced students to be able to ‘tour’ places through the internet and get a dose of American culture. Due to these efforts, students that are thousands of miles from home are still given a FSP experience, kept in the loop of what was going on in DLI, and much more. It is the same essential mission delivered in a different way!

The FSP is in accordance with DoD Instruction 5410.17.