US Army Cultural Support Team (CST)

Cultural Support Teams are all-female Soldier teams who serve as enablers supporting Army Special Operations combat forces in, and around secured objective areas.

Their primary task is to engage female populations in objective areas when such contact may be deemed culturally inappropriate if performed by a male service member.

CSTs directly support activities ranging from medical civic action programs, searches and seizures, humanitarian assistance, and civil-military operations.

Primarily, CST training will focus on basic human behavior, Islamic and Afghan cultures, women and their role in Afghanistan, and tribalism. 

Training is conducted on Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.

A US Army Cultural Support Team (CST) member from Special Operations Task Force - East shakes the hand of a young Afghan while on a presence patrol. The purpose of the patrol was to gain atmospherics from local villagers, and for the CST to interact with Afghan women, Kunar District, May 24, 2011. US Army photo by Specialist Patricia Caputo/Released.

Christian Lowe reports on the deployment of Cultural Support Teams attached to Special Forces and Ranger units in Afghanistan at Military.com.

Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/photos/#ixzz1Vsrscsl4