Congress seeks military language training

[unhappycamper]

Congress seeks military language training
By Charlie Coon, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, September 12, 2008

WASHINGTON — A common scene from Iraq and Afghanistan: Armed and uniformed U.S. troops opposite a group of locals, not knowing what to say or how to say it, even through an interpreter.

Acknowledging that language and culture skills can’t be "surged" into the U.S. military, officers and congressmen on Wednesday debated how to best make them part of the military’s core skills.

"It’s one of the most critical things we need to get done correctly," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., during a hearing by the House Armed Service Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

"I believe we would have been in fewer wars and lost fewer young people if we had been more focused on this in the past," added Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md.

During the hearing, senior military officials rattled off programs that their service branches — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps — are using to build language and cultural skills within their ranks.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57361