thedrifter
12-30-03, 01:01 PM
Issue Date: January 05, 2004
Speak a foreign language? The Corps wants to know
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
The Marine Corps has thousands of translators at its disposal to help in the global war on terrorism. If it could just find them all.
A Corpswide screening of Marines is underway as officials seek to identify every leatherneck who can speak a language other than English.
By March, officials hope to have an accurate tally of Marines with language expertise and even will award some Marines a secondary military occupation specialty — and up to $300 per month — just for getting certified.
Those Marines would stay within their current job specialties, but could be called upon for translator duty when needed, said Capt. Alisa Wiles, a foreign-language officer for the Corps.
While foreign-language expertise can lead to duty as a linguist within the intelligence community, the Corps is seeking Marines possessing language skills with the aim of giving unit commanders the number of translators they need for global operations, Wiles said. Battles can be won or lost due to what is — or isn’t — lost in translation.
“I would say that it’s very much a combat multiplier, a key war-fighting capability, to be able to communicate on the ground,” Wiles said.
The aim is to identify all would-be interpreters before obtaining a “solid picture” of the need, then follow up by training even more translators if necessary.
Incentive programs then may be created to maintain a healthy stock of interpreters, Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee said in a Dec. 10 Corpswide message.
“We must do more to develop our foreign-language capability,” he said in the message.
About 15,000 Marines so far have been identified as foreign-language speakers. About half of those identified speak Spanish.
Although Spanish-speaking Marines are valuable, the Corps has only a “small percentage” of the kinds of translators it sorely needs: Marines who speak the languages of Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wiles is convinced the number of would-be translators could double by the time the survey wraps up this spring.
“We know there were a lot of Marines out there we have never tapped into,” she said.
Although processing at boot camp has included language screening at different times, some Marines made it to the fleet without ever being evaluated. Wiles, for example, is a mustang officer who graduated from recruit training in 1991. She recalled that while she is fluent in Spanish, she never was asked what languages she spoke.
Oftentimes, a commander may stumble upon a foreign-language-speaking Marine by luck in the midst of an overseas exercise or operation.
During operations in Afghanistan in late 2001, for example, at least one lance corporal came in handy to the commander of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Marine, who was born in Afghanistan, knew a couple of the dialects spoken in the area in which the 26th MEU was operating.
Financial opportunity
Knowing a second language translates to extra cash for many Marines, who can be awarded the translator secondary military occupation specialty (MOS 8611) and receive foreign-language proficiency pay.
For example, Marines can rate up to $125 per month if they know at least one of 44 designated languages. Marines who hold expertise in multiple languages can rate as much as $300 per month.
The secondary MOS can be awarded to enlisted Marines of almost any rank, provided their primary jobs are outside the intelligence or signals intelligence/ electronic warfare occupational fields. Sergeants major and first sergeants are not eligible, according to a Corpswide message detailing the program, MarAdmin 124/03.
Meanwhile, Corps officials are playing catch-up. Earlier this year, they identified 176 Marines as foreign-language speakers who never had been assigned the translator MOS. Those Marines were tested and given the secondary-specialty status — and were paid a total of $300,000 in back pay, Wiles said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPEAK UP!
Enlisted Marines in most pay grades can be awarded the interpreter secondary military occupational specialty (MOS 8611) and may rate up to $300 per month for proficiency in multiple languages. The Corps is seeking Marines with proficiency in any of the following 44 languages:
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic (Modern Standard)
Arabic (Egyptian)
Arabic (Iraqi)
Arabic (Maghrebi)
Arabic (Saudi)
Arabic (Sudanese)
Arabic (Syrian)
Arabic (Yemeni)
Assamese
Assyrian
Balochi
Burmese
Chavacano
Chinese (Cantonese)
Chinese (Hakka)
Chinese (Mandarin)
Gujarati
Harari
Hausa
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Japanese
Javanese
Korean
Malay
Persian-Afghan (Dari)
Persian-Farsi
Punjabi
Pasthu
Serbo-Croatian
Somali
Swahili
Tadijic
Tausug
Tigrinya
Turkmen
Urdu
Uzbek
Xhosa
Yakan
Yoruba
Source: Marine Corps
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2506253.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Speak a foreign language? The Corps wants to know
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
The Marine Corps has thousands of translators at its disposal to help in the global war on terrorism. If it could just find them all.
A Corpswide screening of Marines is underway as officials seek to identify every leatherneck who can speak a language other than English.
By March, officials hope to have an accurate tally of Marines with language expertise and even will award some Marines a secondary military occupation specialty — and up to $300 per month — just for getting certified.
Those Marines would stay within their current job specialties, but could be called upon for translator duty when needed, said Capt. Alisa Wiles, a foreign-language officer for the Corps.
While foreign-language expertise can lead to duty as a linguist within the intelligence community, the Corps is seeking Marines possessing language skills with the aim of giving unit commanders the number of translators they need for global operations, Wiles said. Battles can be won or lost due to what is — or isn’t — lost in translation.
“I would say that it’s very much a combat multiplier, a key war-fighting capability, to be able to communicate on the ground,” Wiles said.
The aim is to identify all would-be interpreters before obtaining a “solid picture” of the need, then follow up by training even more translators if necessary.
Incentive programs then may be created to maintain a healthy stock of interpreters, Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee said in a Dec. 10 Corpswide message.
“We must do more to develop our foreign-language capability,” he said in the message.
About 15,000 Marines so far have been identified as foreign-language speakers. About half of those identified speak Spanish.
Although Spanish-speaking Marines are valuable, the Corps has only a “small percentage” of the kinds of translators it sorely needs: Marines who speak the languages of Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wiles is convinced the number of would-be translators could double by the time the survey wraps up this spring.
“We know there were a lot of Marines out there we have never tapped into,” she said.
Although processing at boot camp has included language screening at different times, some Marines made it to the fleet without ever being evaluated. Wiles, for example, is a mustang officer who graduated from recruit training in 1991. She recalled that while she is fluent in Spanish, she never was asked what languages she spoke.
Oftentimes, a commander may stumble upon a foreign-language-speaking Marine by luck in the midst of an overseas exercise or operation.
During operations in Afghanistan in late 2001, for example, at least one lance corporal came in handy to the commander of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Marine, who was born in Afghanistan, knew a couple of the dialects spoken in the area in which the 26th MEU was operating.
Financial opportunity
Knowing a second language translates to extra cash for many Marines, who can be awarded the translator secondary military occupation specialty (MOS 8611) and receive foreign-language proficiency pay.
For example, Marines can rate up to $125 per month if they know at least one of 44 designated languages. Marines who hold expertise in multiple languages can rate as much as $300 per month.
The secondary MOS can be awarded to enlisted Marines of almost any rank, provided their primary jobs are outside the intelligence or signals intelligence/ electronic warfare occupational fields. Sergeants major and first sergeants are not eligible, according to a Corpswide message detailing the program, MarAdmin 124/03.
Meanwhile, Corps officials are playing catch-up. Earlier this year, they identified 176 Marines as foreign-language speakers who never had been assigned the translator MOS. Those Marines were tested and given the secondary-specialty status — and were paid a total of $300,000 in back pay, Wiles said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPEAK UP!
Enlisted Marines in most pay grades can be awarded the interpreter secondary military occupational specialty (MOS 8611) and may rate up to $300 per month for proficiency in multiple languages. The Corps is seeking Marines with proficiency in any of the following 44 languages:
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic (Modern Standard)
Arabic (Egyptian)
Arabic (Iraqi)
Arabic (Maghrebi)
Arabic (Saudi)
Arabic (Sudanese)
Arabic (Syrian)
Arabic (Yemeni)
Assamese
Assyrian
Balochi
Burmese
Chavacano
Chinese (Cantonese)
Chinese (Hakka)
Chinese (Mandarin)
Gujarati
Harari
Hausa
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Japanese
Javanese
Korean
Malay
Persian-Afghan (Dari)
Persian-Farsi
Punjabi
Pasthu
Serbo-Croatian
Somali
Swahili
Tadijic
Tausug
Tigrinya
Turkmen
Urdu
Uzbek
Xhosa
Yakan
Yoruba
Source: Marine Corps
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2506253.php
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: