November 2023: The Value of Language and Culture Training and the Benefit it Brings to U.S. Foreign Relations - Major General (ret.) Donald Loranger, United States Air Force

For the November podcast episode of International Voices, Udo is joined by Major General (ret.) Donald Loranger, who was appointed in 2012 to the National Security Education Board by President Obama. The board oversees the National Security Education Program, which increases the United States’ capacity to deal effectively with foreign cultures and languages. Major General Loranger served in the United States Air Force from 1966 until 1996 as an operational pilot and specialist in US national security policy. He started his career graduating from the University of Montana as an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.  Mr. Loranger has extensive international leadership experience, serving as the Commander of the Joint Task Force in Southwest Asia, Commander of the 435th Tactical Airlift Wing at Rhein Main Air Base in Germany, and operational Commander of the Peacekeeping Forces Operation Provide Promise, the aerial resupply of Sarajevo and Eastern Bosnia, the longest running humanitarian airlift in history. In addition, Mr. Loranger has served as a Military Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and has been a member of that group for over 30-years. Furthermore, for the past 15 years, Mr. Loranger has been the Director of the Defense Critical Language and Culture Program (DCLCP) at the University of Montana. Join both gentlemen for their conversation about the importance of cultural immersion experiences, what it means to be “language and culture smart”, why that skill is more crucial today, than ever before, the affiliation of the DCLCP with UM, what makes the DCLCP one of the most unique language and culture programs in the country and why and how all of this is critical for U.S. foreign relations.