Pentagon Looks for Language Volunteers

The inability of the U.S. government to adequately train a cadre of professionals competent in foreign languages never ceases to amaze. Particularly with the war in Iraq, one would like to think that Arabic training is a priority for the military (and the rest of government).

I once attended a government language class with an agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, who was getting a year of Arabic before being shipped off to Bahrain. That was actually commendable of the Navy, since junior diplomats typically get six months. The problem? Our class was being taught a Jordanian dialect, and the agent discovered -- after actually meeting someone from Bahrain -- that he couldn't understand a word they were saying.

Details, schmetails. Anyhow why worry, the Pentagon has announced the Language Corps:

The Department of Defense announces the implementation of a pilot "The
Language Corps" over the next three years. The pilot Corps will include
no fewer than 1,000 members drawn from all sectors of the U.S.
population. Members will have the opportunity to join a dedicated pool
or a national pool of linguists.

The Language Corps, formerly the Civilian Linguist Reserve Corps,
represents a vital new approach to address the nation's needs for
professionals with language skills.This is an integral component of the
Defense Department's comprehensive language roadmap and the President's
National Security Language Initiative.

Strategy Page looked at this idea when it was first rolled out a couple years ago under another name, noting that earlier proposals "never got off the ground." An obvious issue is that a volunteer corps likely isn't going to help with the military's lack of Arabic-speakers in Iraq.