As I study security issues, a collegue of mine forwarded this press release to me. I seems to be an interesting opportunity and responsibility for those of us that served foreign language missions.

Subject: FW: SENATE DEFENSE BILL WOULD CREATE RESERVE CORPS OF LANGUAGE EXPERTS

Lawmakers demand national strategy
SENATE DEFENSE BILL WOULD CREATE RESERVE CORPS OF LANGUAGE EXPERTS
Inside the Pentagon
Date: November 17, 2005

Senators last week approved legislation to establish a reserve corps of civilian foreign language experts for national security missions and demanded a comprehensive strategy to promote language training at all levels of government.

By unanimous consent, the lawmakers attached the legislation in the form of two amendments to the fiscal year 2006 defense authorization bill, which the Senate approved Nov. 15 by a 98-0 vote.

The move comes as the Pentagon is taking steps to increase the number of military officials with foreign language expertise. For instance, the Quadrennial Defense Review is expected to emphasize the need for specialists in a variety of foreign languages, InsideDefense.com reported last month.

One of the amendments, introduced by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-WI), would task the defense secretary with creating a pilot program to test the feasibility of standing up the reserve corps of language experts. These specialists could be tapped for translation or other services, according to the legislation.

The second amendment, co-sponsored by Feingold but introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), would establish a council to create and implement a nationwide foreign language strategy, which also could involve groups in the private sector.

Feingold’s pilot program would identify languages deemed critical for U.S. national security and recruit citizens with needed skills. Initial funding for the program is being offset from the Air Force’s operation and maintenance account, according to the amendment.

The Senate’s FY-06 defense appropriations bill includes $1.5 million for the initiative.

“A Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps will allow federal agencies to call on volunteering Americans with expertise in a wide variety of languages to help our government and our military work effectively with other cultures and decipher communications that could prove vital to our security,” an Oct. 7 statement from the senator’s office reads.

Under the legislation, the defense secretary would have to identify best practices for administering the organization’s efforts, as well as for creating language certification standards, conducting security clearances and employing the use of private contractors.

A final report, due six months after the pilot program’s completion, would contain recommendations for long-term implementation, the amendment states.

Akaka’s amendment would create a “National Foreign Language Coordination Council,” to be led by an appointed “national language director.”

The council would include the secretaries of defense, state, homeland security, education and labor, as well as the director of national intelligence. The group would recommend “national policies and corresponding legislative and regulatory actions in support of . . .Promising [language] programs and initiatives at all levels (federal, state, and local) . . . That are seen as critical for national security and global competitiveness in the next 20 to 50 years,” the amendment reads.

“The national language director would be appointed by the President and is to be a nationally recognized individual with credentials and abilities necessary to create and implement long-term solutions to achieving national foreign language and cultural competency,” Akaka said in a prepared statement given to Inside the Pentagon this week.

The council would identify areas of improvement in language learning, evaluate current federal language programs, and increase “public awareness of the need for foreign language skills and career paths in all sectors that can employ those skills, with the objective of increasing support for foreign language study among . . . Leaders; students; parents; . . . [and] potential employers,” the legislation states.

“America need people who understand foreign cultures and who are fluent in locally-spoken languages,” Akaka said. “The stability and economic vitality of the United States and our national security depend on American citizens who are knowledgeable about the world. We need civil servants, including law enforcement officers, teachers, area experts, diplomats, and business people with the ability to communicate at an advanced level in the languages and understand the cultures of the people with whom they interact.”

In February, then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz approved a new “Defense Language Transformation Roadmap,” a 19-page plan to overhaul military policy, doctrine and organizations to improve the diversity of foreign languages spoken in the armed forces (ITP, March 10, p1).

U. S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq “reinforce the reality that the Department of Defense needs a significantly improved organic capability in emerging languages and dialects, and a greater competence and regional area skills in those languages and dialects, and a surge capability to rapidly expand its language capabilities on short notice,” the roadmap states.

Accordingly, the Pentagon will make foreign language training a requirement for officer promotions. — Rati Bishnoi