SENATE DEFENSE BILL WOULD CREATE RESERVE CORPS OF LANGUAGE EXPERTS

[Francis M Hult]

> 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 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