Savage in Poland

19 January 2018
Cedar City UT
Author: Carmen Lizbeth Savage

In the summer of 2017, a student from Southern Utah University, named Carmen Savage, had the
opportunity to go on a Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) trip to Wroclaw,
Poland. She was selected from the U.S. Army Cadet Command to go with other selected ROTC cadets.
This trip was paid through the U.S. Army and Mrs. Savage was selected based on her academic GPA,
performance and overall recommendations from the R.O.T.C. cadre. In this trip she also got to work with
several other countries; Romania, Poland, Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary. The
purpose of this trip was for all countries to come together and learn leadership and military strategies
from each other. Additionally, she wanted to go to Poland on the CULP trip, because it would be a great
opportunity for her to fully understand other countries military structure and help her in her future
military career.
During her trip to Poland, there were many opportunities for all countries to learn the various approaches
of react to contact, ambush and raids. For instance, when reacting to contact on a mission it is very
important to call out the distance, direction and description of the enemy. This gives the platoon an
indicator on what lies ahead. Although, this is how the United States conducts operations, many other
countries do it very differently. And through the differences from every country, tactics are improved.
Additionally, Carmen and the fellow cadets, and captains had the opportunity to demonstrate how 4th of
July is celebrated in the United States. During this day, the national anthem was sang, speeches were
given, and the importance and meaning of the U.S. flag was explained. Many other countries never knew
how Americans celebrate this important day. According to Carmen, there was ribs, hamburgers, fruit, hot
dogs, soda, chips, watermelon, steaks, and s’mores. This was the first time that many of the countries
experienced the fireworks, country music, food, and s’mores. Many soldiers from all over were scared
and did not understand the point of s’mores until they tried them.
At Southern Utah University, Carmen Savage, as well as many other students are given the amazing
opportunity to be part of an Edge Program. The Edge Program applies a range of experimental learning
opportunities. Additionally, the Edge Program gives all students from SUU a great way to be involved
with the community and the opportunity to grow as a leader. Carmen stated “Overall, this Edge Program
has been amazing, and I am so excited to be explaining my project to many other people from all over the
world.”
Contact Information:
Carmen Lizbeth Savage
(714) 586-3180
littlecarmen1996@gmail.com