<div dir="ltr"><span class="gmail-hed-heading" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/13/us-military-slashes-foreign-language-training-pentagon-cuts-trump-border-wall-mexico-pentagon/" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(17,17,17);font-family:Tiempos,Georgia,serif;font-size:20px"><h1 class="gmail-hed" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:2.6em;margin:0px;line-height:1.15em;letter-spacing:-0.5px">U.S. Military Slashes Foreign-Language Training</h1></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Tiempos,Georgia,serif;font-size:20px"></span><h2 class="gmail-dek-heading" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(17,17,17);font-size:1.1em;font-weight:200;line-height:1.25em;margin:1em 0px 0.5em;font-family:"Tiempos Headline",Georgia,serif">The cut to immersion programs comes as the Pentagon redirects resources to Trump’s border wall and reduces America’s troop presence overseas.</h2><div class="gmail-meta-data" style="box-sizing:inherit;border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);border-top:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Solido,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.7em;font-weight:600;line-height:1.35em;margin-bottom:1.5em;padding:0.85em 0px 0.75em;text-transform:uppercase;color:rgb(0,0,0)"><address class="gmail-author-list" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:inline;font-style:normal"><span class="gmail-pre" style="box-sizing:inherit">BY</span> <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/author/lara-seligman/" rel="author" class="gmail-author" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(237,55,37);text-decoration-line:none">LARA SELIGMAN</a></address> <span class="gmail-separator" style="box-sizing:inherit;padding:0px 0.25em">|</span> MAY 13, 2019, 5:46 PM</div><span class="gmail-image-attachment gmail--ratioscale gmail-horizontal-orientation" style="box-sizing:inherit;display:block;width:475.313px;overflow:hidden;height:0px;padding-bottom:316.859px"><img src="https://foreignpolicymag.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/880817.jpg?w=800&h=533&crop=0%2C0%2C0%2C0&quality=90" alt="Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Training and Doctrine Command David Halverson observes an Arabic immersion class at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center's facility in Seaside, California, on Feb. 20." class="gmail-image gmail--fit gmail--loaded" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; height: 316.859px; left: 0px; top: 0px; width: auto; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 0.3s ease 0s;"></span><div class="gmail-caption" style="box-sizing:inherit;border-bottom:1px solid rgb(102,102,102);max-width:none;padding:1em 0px 0.5em;margin:1em 0px 0px;opacity:0.75;font-family:Solido,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.7rem;line-height:1.25em">Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Training and Doctrine Command David Halverson observes an Arabic immersion class at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center's facility in Seaside, California, on Feb. 20. <span class="gmail-attribution" style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.75em;padding-left:0.25em;text-transform:uppercase">DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PHOTO</span></div><div class="gmail-post-content-main gmail-initial-drop-cap gmail-shares-position" style="box-sizing:inherit;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Tiempos,Georgia,serif;font-size:20px"><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.9em">As U.S. President Donald Trump diverts more military resources to his long-promised wall with Mexico and seeks to reduce the United States’ troop presence abroad, his Pentagon is slashing funding for the Defense Language Institute’s overseas immersion programs, which help prepare students for duty abroad.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.9em">About 700 foreign-language students were preparing for their immersion courses when their funding was abruptly pulled this year.</p><div class="gmail-ds_cpp" id="gmail-ds_cpp" style="box-sizing:inherit;border-bottom:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);border-top:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Solido,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.6em;padding:3em 0px 2em;margin:5px auto 20px;max-width:645px;clear:both;max-height:600px"><div class="gmail-ds_dgv_label" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-align:center;font-size:13px;line-height:13px;margin:0px 0px 1px;background:none">Trending Articles</div><div class="gmail-ds_cpp_inner" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:rgb(238,238,238);overflow:hidden;border:1px solid lightgray;margin:0px auto;max-width:645px"><div class="gmail-ds_publogo" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-align:center;margin:0px 2px 0px 0px;float:left"><img class="gmail-publogo" src="https://distroscale.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/apps.distroscale.com/51b70607adbf1cfc/FP%20logo%202.png" style="box-sizing: inherit; border-style: none; max-height: 52px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100px;"></div><div class="gmail-ds_sponsor" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-align:center;margin:1px 2px 0px 0px;float:left"></div><div class="gmail-ds_description" style="box-sizing:inherit;text-align:center;padding:0px 4px 0px 2px;min-width:100px;margin:0px;height:49px;overflow:hidden;f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;font-size:0.9em">“Normally that’s the kind of thing that gets cut when you see the budget declining,” he said, noting that it is odd that the Army’s temporary duty cut comes as the U.S. military’s budget is increasing year after year.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.9em">But despite increasing budgets, the Army has been rummaging in the couch cushions to come up with additional resources for modernization and reforms. The temporary duty cut was part of what the Army calls the<a href="https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/08/armys-night-court-finds-25-billion-to-reinvest-in-modernization-priorities/" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;color:rgb(237,55,37);text-decoration-line:none"> “night court”</a> process, which took a detailed look at existing programs to see which ones were essential to the service’s goals, the senior official said.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.9em">As of October 2018, the service had found roughly $25 billion through the night court process to apply to its top priorities, which include a next-generation combat vehicle, air and missile defense, and increasing soldier lethality.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:0.9em">“Even though budgets are increasing, reform goes on because you can always modernize faster,” the official added.</p></div><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies                     <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone:  (215) 898-7475<br>Fax:  (215) 573-2138                                      <br><br>Email:  <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a>    <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div></div>