World military officials visit Bigfork

It's not every day residents can meet someone from Kazakhstan or Nigeria in Bigfork, but it does happen at least once every summer.

Each July for the past 13 years, Flathead Lake Lodge and Bigfork have played host to military officers from around the world through the International Fellows program. This year, 61 individuals from 55 different countries paid a visit to the Village.

The program was designed by the National Defense University in 1984, and through it senior officers from a variety of nations are selected to attend a one-year fellowship program.

They're all colonels and generals who are likely the next "up-and-coming" military leaders in their respective countries.

Lodge owner Doug Averill serves as Montana's representative to the National Defense Orientation Conference Association and a local contact with the Department of Defense, which is how he became involved with the International Fellows.

Breaking barriers

A trip to Montana, which occurs early on in the fellows' year-long stay in the United States, serves a variety of purposes, but mainly helps forge relationships and starts breaking down barriers. This four-day trip to Bigfork is the fellows' first time traveling together. Most of the officers arrived in mid-June but the program started after July 4.

"The purpose here is to break them down and make them learn to meet each other," Averill said. "Many of these countries might have conflicts."

Excursions like a raft trip, horseback riding and sport clay shooting all help them develop relationships and get them to have new experiences together.

"They're already laughing," Averill said of the difference just between Friday and Saturday night.

Even the fellows admit to changes that have taken place.

"People who were shy tend to be less shy," said Lt. Col. Mojca Pesec of the Slovenia Army. Pesec is the sole woman among this year's International Fellows. She said she's used to "hanging out with the boys," particularly where she is among the upper ranks in the military.

Nothing has quite the same affect as this particular bonding experience in Bigfork. Most of the rest of their excursions will involve industry, schools and government offices in other states. They are more academic experiences

"It works. It's a proven formula," said Maj. Gen. Bob Steele from the National War College. "It tends to break down their stiffness."

The hope is that these bonds are long lasting and will be carried back with these officers when they return to work in their own countries. It therefore serves as a method of promoting peace.

"These relationships go a long ways in maintaining productive communication among the countries," Averill wrote in a letter to community members. "We witnessed this first hand when India and Pakistan leaders were in Montana during their nuclear conflict."

The trip also helps them get to know their leaders for the year, like Steele, who coordinated the trip this year.

"It helps them get familiar with myself," Steele said. "They get more comfortable around me."

Steele said it's important in letting them know they can come to him with problems or concerns.

Life in Montana

Part of the purpose of the fellowship is to introduce the men and women to life in the United States.

"They are exposed to the beginning of the complexities of America," Steele said. "It's not a homogeneous blob."

This "dude ranch" experience is a first timer for many of the participants. Many had never been on a horse until Saturday night.

The participants are always shocked to find Bigfork to be an unincorporated town.

"They wonder, 'How does this work? What do you do? How can that exist in the nation of America?'" Steele said.

Andis Dilans, a brigadier general in the Latvian Army, found Bigfork's volunteerism surprising.

"It's a quite independent place," Dilans said of Bigfork. "It's unusual for us in Europe."

Col. Philippe Adam of the French Air Force said time in Washington, D.C., made Bigfork even more of a unique and surprising find.

"It's a very different style of organization, but it works," Adam said. "In Washington, everything is politics."

This experience in the "wild west" introduces fellows to wildlife and environmental protections and small town life. Many were also surprised by the extent of Glacier National Park, or simply having a national park system.

"We are blessed with this enormous country," Steele said. "Most of them come from confined areas. Most have population and land constraints."

Dilans and others were thrilled to catch sight of a black bear while in the Park on Saturday. The group also saw big-horned sheep.

"I wish to keep Montana this way. It's our future. It's important that we also now protect the environment," Dilans said.

The fellows said Bigfork welcomed them with open arms and a curiosity about who they are and where they are from.

"It's a pretty amazing experience. It's bringing you closer to the people, the way of life, even the weather," Pesec said of the excursion to Montana. "That's the real United States."

Over the course of the weekend, local residents also got to play host to the officers in their homes Sunday night and to participate in a steak fry in the mountains as well as cocktails.

For Marilyn Graham, this was her fourth year joining the Averills to meet and host the International Fellows.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to meet people one-on-one from countries you only hear about on the news," Graham said.

As an avid traveler who recently returned from a trip to Africa, she's thrilled by the chance to talk to the officers from around the globe about their countries and their experiences, particularly Col. Armstrong Wakung'uma from the Zambian Army. A formidable presence in stature but a true comic, "Armstrong," as Bigfork residents called him, was the talk of the weekend.

When asked about all the attention, Armstrong simply let out a deep chuckle.

Graham boasted about being able to play host to Armstrong, in addition to several other fellows Sunday, along with resident Peach Graeff.

"When we have them at our homes, we are just so blessed," Graeff said. "For Doug and Maureen to host this, it's just wonderful. We're so proud of them. They are such giving and loving people."

Despite having a full crowd at the Lodge in addition to the fellows, both Doug and his wife Maureen Averill were very involved with orchestrating the weekend's events.

"Doug and Maureen have bent over backward to rally support," Steele said. "We could not do this without them."

Steele said the program is just as grateful for the community of Bigfork's support.

Also while in Montana, the group was scheduled to travel from Bigfork to visit Helena, learn about Lewis and Clark and visit the Gates of the Mountains before heading down to Yellowstone National Park.