KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.-- Serving as the Keesler Saudi country liaison officer for the students in training from Saudi Arabia on Keesler, Capt. Naif Almani has worked toward the goal of providing his country with exceptional soldiers and strengthening its relationship with the United States.
After receiving notice from the Harrison County School District and the International Military Student Office, Almani was able to take his mission off-base by interpreting exams for a student in the local area.
“The school needed help translating exams for a student who spoke Arabic, my first language,” said Almani. “After verifying the legality, I agreed to help.”
Almani was able to act as an interpreter, translating the questions from the teacher to the student in Arabic, and translating his answers back. After two days of test taking, Almani was able to help the school and student complete the exams.
Sheila Curtis, Harrison County School District educational director, said that Almani was able to bridge a gap in communication with students a part of the district and hopes to continue working with Keesler personnel in the future.
“Almani has helped us out tremendously as a translator,” said Curtis. “It means a lot from strengthening our partnership with Keesler to finding new ways to overcome our challenges.”
Almani and our other international partners continue to serve as an important piece of Keesler’s mission.
“I did this more as an act of service,” said Almani. “To me, assisting someone who needs it goes under basic humanitarian principles and I was happy to help someone who needed it.”
From the allies overseas to the Gulf Coast community, Keesler strives towards advancing its partnerships and creating mutual collaborations to benefit all.
“A part of my professional duty is to consolidate and support the foundation of the cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States,” said Almani. “The United States is one of our most important partners, and diversifying our partnership is key. This partnership is still making remarkable progress. Helping the community resulted in progressing our brotherhood between us and the partnership up to the highest levels.”