October 15, 2008: The U.S. military has had great success with several
efforts to get more troops speaking foreign languages well enough to operate as
battlefield translators. This is a major boost for intelligence gathering,
since a lot of what you want to know can be found in what the locals are
saying.
The Department of Defense has created
several programs to get more translators. The Foreign Language Proficiency
Bonus Program, pays troops a monthly bonus if they speak certain languages. But
the monthly bonus is paid only when the language is used. For example, the U.S.
Navy will now pay French speaking sailors an extra $500 a month if they are
involved in a part of the world (like Africa) where French is a common second
language. This is a contingent (on having to actually use the skill) bonus. In
the past, the bonuses were only paid for those who had passed a proficiency
exam, and spoke a language the military had few translators for. In particular,
Arabic, Pushto and Farsi (the last two are common in Afghanistan) are still in
great demand. But the old system paid the troops that $500 a month whether they
were using their language still or not. Now the top bonus is $1000 a month.
Then there is the LES (Language Enabled
Soldier) program, which offers ten
months of language training for volunteers. If the student is successful, they
qualify for the bonus. Troops also realize that more interpreters make their
job a lot easier in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, brigades are going
to Iraq and Afghanistan with a hundred or more troops qualified as translators.
The military has also been actively
recruiting recent immigrants who could go through training to improve their
skills and teach them how to use those skills for translation in a military
situation. This is the EHLS (English for Heritage Language Speakers), which
takes native speakers of these languages, living in the U.S., but lack the
English language skills to be effective translators. The program involves a
government paid, six month (720 hour) intensive course that improves the
students English language skills. Those who successfully finish EHLS will be
offered translating jobs with the U.S. government, but the students are under
no legal obligation to take any of those jobs. However, those who speak one of
the needed foreign languages as their native language, and express interest in
a government translator job, will be given priority in getting into the EHLS
program. The Department of Defense currently has a shortage of translators able
to handle Arabic, Persian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Pashto, Urdu and Korean.
Over 600 EHLS translators have been sent overseas and another 150 are in training.
Despite this, the government has had to hire over 10,000 contract translators.
Three years ago, the United States
established a "Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps" (CLRC), to provide
foreign language experts for national emergencies. This sort of thing has been
proposed before, but never got off the ground. The basic idea behind the CLRC
is, during peacetime, to find people
with needed foreign language skills, certify their skill level and get some of
them a security clearance (so they can handle classified material). The CLRC
members would receive a small fee for being available, in case of an emergency.
CLRC membership would probably also help members get some civilian translator
jobs. After all, if you are CLRC, you are "government certified."
When called to active service, the CLRC would receive a pre-agreed pay rate,
that would be competitive with the going rate for translators.
The U.S. Department of Defense believes
it needs 140,000 translators, for over 60 languages. A
survey of the entire Department of Defense found that 217,000 people (about eight percent of all active duty reserve and civilian personnel) could
speak a foreign language. But it's taken a lot of effort, and new programs, to
get the translators for the right languages, to the places where they are
needed most.
