Joint Special Operations University
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JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS UNIVERSITY
In a 2009 JSOU Press monograph reecting on the edu-
cation requirements for Special Operations Forces (SOF)
personnel, Brigadier General Russ Howard (U.S. Army,
retired) identied “cultural competency” as critical to SOF
professional development. He returns to this theme with
researchers Greta Hanson and Carly Laywell by answering
this question: Why can some people act eectively in new
cultures or among people with unfamiliar backgrounds
while others, even highly respected people within their
own group, stumble in those same situations? The research
team asserts that cultural intelligence (CQ) makes the dier-
ence and describes a prociency that goes beyond simply
being intelligent, emotionally mature, or having good gen-
eral social skills. Their message to SOF is that a person with
high CQ, whether cultivated or innate, can understand and
master situations, persevere, and do the right thing.
ISBN 978-1-941715-01-7
Cultural Intelligence for
Special Forces Personnel
Russell D. Howard, Greta Hanson, and Carly Laywell
JSOU Report 16-10
JSOU Report 16-10 Cultural Intelligence for Special Forces Personnel Howard, Hanson, and Laywell
