BC FED Successfully Delivered Pre-Deployment Training for U.S. Army, 41st Brigade Combat Team.

RESTON, Va. -- Cultural Awareness, Bilateral Negotiation Training and Foreign Linguist Support Provides Unit Realistic, Challenging Conditions for Superior Battlefield Preparedness 

BC FED, a strategic IT management partner to government organizations that operates as an independent business unit of Blue Canopy, announced that it won its third contract with the U.S. Army National Guard Unit, the 41st Brigade Combat Team. This contract called for BC FED to provide civilians on the battlefield (COB), cultural awareness and bilateral negotiation training as well as foreign linguist support. The contract was successfully delivered in Gowen Field, Idaho this month. Next year the unit will be deployed to Afghanistan.

The first training phase took place in a classroom setting with a qualified and highly motivated team of subject matter experts that will familiarize the unit with geographic characteristics, climate, religion, languages, major cities, industry, transportation, communication and technology levels. In addition, BC FED provided a historic overview of all major events and explain the event chronology.

The second training phase was bilateral negotiations which took place in the field. BC FED trained the unit to work with and through an interpreter. The unit learned to work with negotiators to barter on things like the use of land in a village as well as protection from war lords. In addition, the training enabled the unit to focus on behavior and mistakes that happen during communication.

BC FED also provided foreign language speakers to serve the role of translators, bilingual in English and Dari, the language of Afghanistan. They role played and created scenarios that the unit could encounter. The roles ranged from a mayor to a baker or a "bad guy."

"Our troops today face unseen and unpredictable enemies embedded in a multi-cultural, ethnic and religious urban battlefield. We are proud that we won this contract with the U.S. Army National Guard Unit, the 41st Brigade Combat Team," said Eric Husebo, president of BC FED. "The training and the skills we provided are designed to simulate the entire scope of what they might encounter. It will enable the troops to successfully work and integrate with the local population in Afghanistan."

Major Ken Nygren of the 41st Brigade Combat Team stated: "BC FED has been extremely flexible to accommodate special requests regarding the training program. They provided realistic settings for dealing with situations that are not easy to replicate. The training support team that worked with us is excellent. And the training gave the soldiers good experience. BC FED worked closely with us to make our vision a reality."

About BC FED

BC FED delivers exceptional value to defense and civilian agencies from concept to total delivery. This best value is achieved by aligning BC FED's extensive management experience with its applied IT best practices and logistics expertise. Federal customers benefit from BC FED's proven methodologies that ensure each mission is benchmarked for success. Additionally, BC FED allows organizations to manage growth by reducing costs of ownership and maximizing ROI to achieve business goals. To learn more, visit http://www.bluecanopy.com or call 571-323-4790.