Dave Rosenberg, with a Native American bonnet in one hand and a Filipino hat in the other, acquaints service members with global customs and information to keep them out of trouble while traveling overseas. (All Hands)
Quantico, Maxwell Air Force Base, Fort Huachuca, Pensacola, and Monterey all host sizable incubators of language and cultural expertise for the armed forces. But it is worth recalling earlier efforts to help service members understand foreign societies. One pioneer was Navy civilian David Rosenberg (1916–2005). He taught “overseasmanship” to tens of thousands of sailors and Marines bound for foreign ports during the Cold War.
In 1961, Leatherneck magazine recalled the “Old Days”—“servicemen of all nations looked forward to their liberties in foreign ports with anticipation of brews, broads, and brawls. When the fleet was in, the cops were out—in full force.”1
After World War II, things had to change. As the Washington Post reported, “The Navy saw a need for such instruction after U.S. sailors in a Spanish seaport town once rooted for the bull in a bullfight. When a beloved matador was nearly gored, the sailors were assaulted and chased out of town. U.S. ships were barred from the harbor for months.”2
The hour called forth the man, and his name was Dave.
Overseasmanship Trainer
An Eagle Scout from Massachusetts, Rosenberg joined the Navy during World War II, was a member of the crew of the USS Monterey (CV-26), and afterward became a civilian Navy public affairs specialist. In 1961, he began working as an overseasmanship trainer, presumably taking the label from the path-breaking book, The Art of Overseasmanship (1957), by noted sociologists Harlan Cleveland and Gerard Mangone.3
Before a Navy ship reached a foreign port, Dave flew ahead, toured the harbor and the city, and scoped out whatever might confound a U.S. sailor who wished to travel or sightsee beyond the “dockside gin mills.” To make a telephone call in Naples, for example, a sailor first had to buy a call token from a box adjacent to the public telephone. Who knew? And who could read the instructions in Italian?
He anticipated the confusions and used them to tailor his “briefings,” leveraging his talents as “a folk-dancer (expert), linguist, stand-up comic, magician, tour guide, slide-show commentator, and ‘old-salt.’”4
Many accounts—from the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, to Leatherneck magazine, All Hands, and Naval Aviation News, to the Handbook for Marine NCOs, BuPers Naval Training Bulletin, and the Institute for Defense Analyses—tell the tale:5
• “Mr. Rosenberg traveled worldwide, experiencing high and low culture from Oslo to Tokyo. He . . . made sure to become familiar with waterfront bars, gaining credibility with seamen even if the experience left him with ‘indigestion in 20 languages.’”
• “The atmosphere [at a Rosenberg briefing] is that of a three-ring circus, with Rosenberg prancing about, performing dance steps, putting on different costumes, throwing candy, and giving very practical advice on how to have a good time and stay out of trouble. He brings along many flags, road signs, and large souvenirs to show his audience. He covers drinking (but begs his audience not to get drunk), meeting host nationals, getting dates, buying worthwhile souvenirs, and respecting local customs.”
• Often dressed in lederhosen and knee socks, his presentations could run up to five hours, punctuated by shots from a starting pistol and magic tricks. “His close-cropped, graying hair is mussed beyond combing, and his walrus mustache jumps wildly as he keeps up a steady stream of chatter.”
• “He warned sailors against calling Scots ‘Scotch,’ told them the way Japanese bathhouses operate, and offered other skills in maneuvering through daily life.”
• “People are afraid of two things when going overseas: food and toilets,” Rosenberg said. “In Bermuda, where they speak British English, the commode is called the ‘loo’ or ‘WC,’ for water closet. And it has the old-fashioned pull-chain. . . . But when you get to Iceland, you try to figure out how those toilets flush. You just pull the little knurled knob up—simple!”
• To meet people, he advised, “Get a map and look lost—in a decent part of town.”
• Rosenberg’s “briefings throughout the Fleet combine sell-out entertainment with down-to-earth advice. If you get a chance to attend one, don’t miss it.”
Lessons and Takeaways
Rosenberg’s performances had simple learning outcomes, including:6
• Travel is a great opportunity. It can be rewarding and can present a good image of Americans overseas.
• Your ability to get around to the right places will depend a lot on how well you prepare yourself before you go on liberty or leave.
• Shopping is a good way to get acquainted overseas. Learn the exchange rate. Stay away from tourist traps, and purchase expensive items in the base or post exchange.
• Good manners are in order whether at home or abroad. Your conduct in a restaurant or a private home overseas is watched closely. Take the time to learn the rules of proper etiquette.
• Learn and obey the traffic signs. Make an effort to understand the varied methods of hand signs used widely abroad to convey information.
But my biggest takeaway from Dave Rosenberg came in 1978, when I attended one of his briefings.
Rosenberg grew up in Winthrop, Massachusetts, in an ethnically diverse neighborhood. He was aware of different cultures at an early age as a member of the local Boy Scout troop, where he claimed a person “practically had to be a linguist just to pronounce the other boys’ names correctly.” He also was a member of a musical group that played at German, Irish, Swedish, Greek, Italian, Jewish, and Polish weddings.7
Americans should be naturals at overseasmanship and intercultural communication, he told us, because of the diversity of our society. To walk to a park or a theater, for instance, city dwellers often had to make their way through distinct ethnic neighborhoods. They had to recognize the environment, know how things might be different, and be well mannered and respectful. Because they practiced these skills at home, he said, it should be easy for U.S. sailors and Marines to do the same in other countries.
In the decades since the 1940s, the United States has become even more diverse. And Rosenberg’s insight still holds. If Americans of different backgrounds can learn to get along in this country, they have a head start in getting along with those who live in foreign lands.
That was Dave’s story, and I’m sticking to it.
1. Earl Smith, “Good Will Tutor,” Leatherneck, January 1961, 36.
2. Adam Bernstein, “David Rosenberg: Etiquette Coach for Navy, Folk Dance Specialist,” The Washington Post, 1 March 2005.
3. “Dave Rosenberg,” http://www.socalfolkdance.org/master_teachers/rosenberg_d.htm.
4. Ricard W. Brislin, “The Content and Evaluation of Cross-Cultural Training Programs,” Institute for Defense Analyses, November 1970, 15.
5. Quotes taken from Bernstein, “David Rosenberg”; Brislin, “Cross-Cultural Training Programs”; Tom Jansing, “Overseasmanship a la Dave Rosenberg,” All Hands, February 1976; Candace Sams, “Dave Rosenberg: Sharing Ways to Have a Rewarding Liberty,” All Hands, April 1986; and Robert D. Heinl Jr., Handbook for Marine NCOs (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1970).
6. Outcomes are from “Making Contact Abroad,” AFIF-186, Armed Forces Film Information Guide, n.d.
7. Sams, “Dave Rosenberg: Sharing Ways to Have a Rewarding Liberty.”