Nonverbal Messages

Nonverbal Messages

Tally Ann Bringas

Intercultural Communication/COM 40164

Prof. Undraye Howard

November 19^th 2011

In 1996 I graduated High School and joined the U.S. Navy. I joined the Navy based on my lack of preparation after high school and my inability to measure the importance of education. At the time I was not serious about my future and felt as if I had no other recourse but to join if I wanted to accomplish anything I went off to boot camp and participated with ease and actually enjoyed the physical aspect of its trials. It was when I was sent to my duty station where I was challenged and found myself unprepared for what I would soon be facing. My first duty station was in Naval Air Station Pensacola Florida. With being assigned to the Helicopter Landing Trainer (HLT)  this once Army supply ship in Vietnam  was moth balled than revived and gutted to become the IX-514 HLT and given a simulation flight deck for naval Hilo pilots to receive their deck qualifications without killing actual sea time with a real ship. Our sole purpose in live was to qualify these pilots and push off the pier daily for these qualification runs. We ran constantly in the Pensacola Bay, and this term during the navy was considered neutral duty not sea or land.

My intercultural non verbal experience comes from this time on this ship. The work that was done was something short of amazing with the time and equipment provided.  I have no negative experiences to offer only positive ones that can be only experienced when you serve with such great people. My misinterpretation came from ship board fire training that with limited ability to communicate you need to rely heavily on non verbal cues. We were tasked with going up a narrow bulkhead with heavy equipment and when I did I was supposed to see one of the trainer’s signs of fatigue and reaction to smoke inhalation as a warning that the location just excited was not safe and I proceeded anyway. This is when I missed a very important task of scanning my environment for dangers and allowing my shipmates to enter in a location that was dangerous. Should this have been a real situation than I could have cost them their lives, thankfully it wasn’t and I was than properly instructed on how to run the drill correctly. What should I have been looking for, the drop of posture, eye contact, look of struggle, all of the signs that they are in trouble. These are the same nonverbal cues we can use every day for ourselves and individuals surrounding us. If we are in a meeting and a co-worker falls over we don’t need a sign to tell us that they are in trouble. Its eye contact or no eye contact at all, what we have in our minds as what is acceptable may not be for other cultures. I for one like to see what other cultures accept and tolerate and this can be a sign of their openness and understanding of other cultures and counties. I am a firm believer that non verbal communication is the most important form of communications it can have the most impact with minimal effort.