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CADRE Quick-Look: Suggestions for Language Transformation in the US Air Force

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Published: 2004

Total Pages: 3

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The Air Force has no central language program or overarching language plan. While it has "muddled through" each successive crisis requiring Air Force language support, it has not moved beyond ad hoc solutions or just-in-time language training. The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) requires many languages and a quick response to any emerging threat. The Air Force's current language posture does not meet these emerging needs. The August 2002 "Chief's Sight Picture" regarding language sent a clear signal that a cultural change must occur. The 2004 Defense Language Transformation Initiative provides the Department of Defense (DoD) impetus for direction and will certainly provide the funding to do so. The Air Force's response to DoD will have long-term effects on its language capabilities. To jump start this process, this issue of CADRE Quick-Look presents specific solutions to the lack of foreign language skills in the Air Force grouped by the following problem sets: Lack of Air Force Language Advocacy; Numerous "Language" Offices, but No One Voice; Lack of Comprehensive Air Force Language Requirements; Uneven Data Collection and Manipulation; Incomplete Identification of Entry-Level Personnel with Language Skills; Lack of Language Awareness throughout the Air Force; No Roadmap for Formal Language Education and Training; Little Attention to Language Recruiting and Retention Issues; Incomplete Planning for Language Training; Little Reward or Recognition for Language Proficiency; and Underutilization of Available Resources.

CADRE Quick-Look: Foreign Language Posture in the US Air Force

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Published: 2004

Total Pages: 3

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The Air Force has no central language program or an overarching language plan. These issues are not new nor have they been ignored. In the past two decades numerous articles, studies, and Process Action Teams have reported the same problems and all have recommended numerous solutions, to no avail. Why are these problems so thoroughly articulated but not resolved? One explanation is that the Air Force has successfully met each immediate language challenge, but just barely. Over the years, "just in time" language training, contract linguists, and most recently, two-year mobilization of reservists all helped to meet active force shortfalls with varying degrees of success. In short, the Air Force has muddled through its language crises. It's time to publish and promulgate clear guidance and a single vision for the Air Force language program from the Secretary of the Air Force. To do this, the Air Force must be a full partner in the Department of Defense (DoD) language transition initiative to make sure all Air Force language needs are fully articulated. This issue of CADRE Quick-Look presents some solutions for the lack of foreign-language proficiency in the Air Force.

DOD Language Transformation

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Published: 2005

Total Pages: 2

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After a year-long series of studies, DOD issued its Defense Language Transformation Roadmap in March 2005. It acknowledges the lack of language and cultural ability within the uniformed services, highlights the increasing need for such capabilities, and outlines several goals for language transformation. Among them, it requires all junior officers to complete language training, to actively recruit heritage speakers, and to incorporate "regional area content" in all Professional Military Education courses. Further, in a move reminiscent of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, it mandates foreign language "ability" as a criterion for "general officer/flag officer advancement." Additionally, the newly established Defense Language Office recommends that all officers, with few exceptions, have "a level of language proficiency."

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Published: 1980

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The Inter-American Air Force Academy

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Published: 2004*

Total Pages: 2

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The Air Force's foreign language program has been reinvigorated after 9/11. A language transformation plan is in development at Air Staff, standards for language proficiency are being raised throughout DOD, and the Chief of Staff has issued his Sight Picture on language as an Air Force roadmap for the future. The new standard for language proficiency, using the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT), is a score of 3 in Reading, Writing, and Speaking; an increase from the previous score of 2+ on a scale of zero to five. While this goal is within the reach of most Air Force language professionals, the opportunities to get there are not.

Establishing Foreign Language Education Responsibilities Within Air Education and Training Command (AETC)

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Published: 2006

Total Pages: 2

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The Air Force needs more language proficient Airmen than ever before, yet it does not optimally manage its language training programs to ensure their success. Reliance on contract linguists and the constant recall of Guard and Reserve linguists (to the point of their exhaustion) clearly highlight the lack of internal language skills. Despite these realities, language education is left to the individual Airman, who must decide what is appropriate or necessary for his/her professional advancement. The calls for increased attention to language in Department of Defense's (DOD) Language Transformation Roadmap will likely lead to more downward-directed emphasis on language training and education in the near future. Adding to this new emphasis, the FY 06 National Defense Authorization Act (FY 06 NDAA) calls for the Secretary of Defense to " ... support the acquisition of language skills among cadets ... in the Reserve Officer's Training Corps ... including special emphasis for Arabic, Chinese, and other strategic languages ..." (Section 542, FY 06 NDAA). The Air Force is squandering opportunities to create and maintain language proficient officers and enlisted personnel by continuing its fragmented approach to language training and education.