highlandscout
Tonasket, WA
age: 58
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...Here, below, is an example of some of the most Patriotic and difficult work that you could do in this day and in these times....
LEARN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH!!!
...Of, course it is not for everyone.
..."We speak English in America"...
..... While it may be that we do speak English in America... Our sons and daughters and a huge bite of our national monies are being spent in parts of the world where the people do not speak English...
.........and those who might be the enemies of our way of life most often do not employ people who speak English...
...So, in order to deal with the threat... we Americans who are willing to give our lives for our way of life will learn what ever we need to learn to overcome those opposing forces...
...Today we are in a terrible mess in countries where little English is spoken... and the welfare of our sons and our daughters... our American service people... serve, where the lives of our family members in the service depend on the bilingual foreigner who has never enjoyed the freedom so many complaining Americans take for granted...
...the taxi driver from Iraq,
...the small store owner in Afghanistan...
...often adults in their 40's and 50's who have trouble keeping up with young heavily trained US soldiers.
...If you are a Patriot, then learn a second language very well or support those who do.
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Try this URL: Issue: Iraq/Afghanistan - Interpreters.
http://www.nationalalliance.org/bits/naf2004/040103.htm
Observation:
....The lack of competent interpreters through out the theater impeded operations. When interpreters were integrated into operations, they were not used to their full capability.
....Discussion:
....... Bottom line, the U.S. Army does not have a fraction of the linguists required to operate in the Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR). We have to rely on contract linguists for Dari, Pashtun, and the numerous dialects of Arabic. This develops into a big problem, because, not only do you have to have fluent linguists, but you also have to obtain one that can comprehend military terms and operations. In most cases, the interpreters also need some degree of physical stamina to support military operations in a field environment. Laugh if you will, but many of the linguists with which I conversed were conveience store workers and cab drivers, most over the age of 40. None had any previous military experience. Most military
...Linguists working in Iraq and Afghanistan only possess, on the average, a 2/2 Forces Command (FORSCOM) rating (which basically gives them the ability to tell the difference between a burro and a burrito).
...The next problem with interpreters was asset utilization. With this limited asset, what is the priority for employment? Because of the limited number of interpreters, we observed that there was not much continuity in working with the same elements, or, in many cases, interpreters working to the point of burnout. They are mercenaries and are getting paid, but the tradeoff with long hours is that the quality of support is degraded.
...There are TTP for working with interpreters. For most soldiers, the notion of working with a foreign-speaking civilian is a new and novel concept. Home-Station training with linguists is not common, and rarely occurs at the CTCs. The most common mistake soldiers make while working with interpreters was that they speak directly to the interpreter and wait for him to translate rather then have eye contact and speak directly to the foreign national, with the interpreter speaking in the background. In many cultures, not speaking directly to a person shows a lack of respect and trust. Another observation is that the foreign national gives a 10-minute answer and the interpreter translates yes or no. Who knows what agenda the interpreter has? If the soldier isn't keen enough to pick up on this, there could be problems with a common understanding of future situations.
Lessons Learned/TTP: There are numerous recommendations, but only a few that we can influence in the near future.
• Have language training at Home Station. The days of going to the "language lab" one day a week to read foreign comic books or interrogate your roommate are over. Immersion training is the key to success.
• Incorporate interpreter scenarios at the CTCs, at least with HUMINT soldiers. The interpreter scenario was attempted during the Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) rotation at the JRTC.
• Add an asset manager at the unit level, similar to a collection manager for interpreters. We can no longer afford to send interpreters in "support" of units to buy chickens and soft drinks.
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