ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE RESOURCES IN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP02B05208R000100050020-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 15
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2013
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: June 30, 1988
• Content Type: MEMO

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STAT
STAT
U-324/RHR-1
DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20340- 3041
MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHAIRMAN, DCI FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMITTEE
sti lOSS
coNsTITU;i0.,,
SUBJECT: Assessment of Foreign Language Resources in the Intelligence
Community
Reference: DCI FLC Memorandum FLC-015-88, 23 May 1988, subject as above
In response to the reference, the information requested on the status
foreign language resources in DIA is enclosed. If you have any questions
comments on the information provided, please contact
RHR-1, at 373-2652.
FOR THE DIRECTOR:
1 Enclosure a/s
of
or
Assistant Deputy Director
for Human Resources
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DCI LANGUAGE SURVEY
I. List all languages for which your organization has authorized billets.
Give the number of authorized billets for FY-88 and the current assigned
strength. Indicate the existence of skill imbalances. Then, list all
languages for which you have no authorized billets but for which you have or
anticipate a requirement in the future.
PERSONNEL # ASSIGNED WITH
LANGUAGE AUTHORIZED ASSIGNED LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
SPANISH (AMERICAN)
151
148
89
FRENCH
83
81
61
RUSSIAN
67
59
30
CHINESE (MANDARIN)
26
25
15
GERMAN
23
23
16
ARABIC (STD)
15
10
7
PORTUGESE (BRAZILIAN)
15
15
7
GREEK
13
13
6
ITALIAN
12
12
8
SPANISH (CASTILIAN)
10
10
8
INDONESIAN
9
9
2
PORTUGESE (EUROPEAN)
9
9
6
HEBREW
8
8
5
KOREAN
8
7
4
THAI
8
7
5
DUTCH
7
7
6
JAPANESE
7
7
6
SYRIAN
6
6
2
SERBO-CROATION
6
6
2
TAGALOG
6
6
0
TURKISH
6
6
2
HUNGARIAN
5
5
2
NORWEGIAN
5
5
3
SWEDISH
5
5
4
DANISH
4
4
4
AFRIKAANS
4
3
3
BULGARIAN
4
4
0
POLISH
4
4
0
ROMANIAN
4
4
2
EGYPTIAN
3
3
2
BURMESE
3
3
2
SOMALI
3
3
0
MALAY
3
3
1
CZECH
3
2
2
BENGALI
2
2
2
FINNISH
2
2
2
IRAQI
1
1
0
SUDANESE
1
1
1
HINDI
1
1
1
URDU
1
1
1
VIETNAMESE (NO)
1
1
1
VIETNAMESE (SO)
1
1
1
TOTAL
555
532
321
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ANTICIPATED FUTURE LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DAS
(DEFENSE ATTACHE SYSTEM)
LANGUAGE BILLET REQUIREMENT COMMENTS
Urdu 4 USDAO, Pakistan
Dari 4 Reopen USDAO in Afghanistan
Hindi 3 USDAO, India
Amharic 3 Reopen USDAO in Ethiopia
Portuguese 3 Open USDAO in Angola
Nepali 2 USDAO, Nepal
Shona 1 USDAO, Zimbabwe
Swahili 1 USDAO, Malawi
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II. Please provide the following additional information using a separate
sheet for each subject area (A thru I). All catagories of language activities
should be considered (e.g., teaching, transcription, translation,
interpreting, interrogating, research, analysis, and collection or
interception of foreign language materials).
A. Assess the reasons for major shortfalls in assigned strength.
DIA's Washington based staff, as well as the Defense Attache System (DAS),
enjoys a high percentage in overall personnel manning against authorized
strength. With respect to the DAS, where the majority of the Agency's
language requirements are centered, this manning level is sometimes achieved
at the expense of curtailing completion of the desired foreign language
training in order to get people on station (i.e., some incumbents lack the
required foreign language proficiency level to satisfactorily fulfill all on
station mission requirements). Supplemental foreign language programs on
station are available to improve or maintain foreign language proficiencies.
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B. Discuss your efforts to recruit people with existing language skills. How
successful is the effort? What are your major recruitment sources? Describe
difficulties encountered.
DIA obtains Defense Attache System personnel from the Services (Army, Navy,
Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard) for positions as military attaches
and support staff. Defense Attache System duty is voluntary and volunteers
are difficult to obtain for the less desirable posts.
Many attache and support staff positions require personnel with foreign
language skills. DIA requests that the Services provide personnel who either
have proven foreign language skills, or who have taken the Defense Language
Aptitude Battery test and scored 100 or better.
The Services, in some cases, are able to provide a number of personnel who are
being, or have been, trained as Foreign Area Officers and who have some
proficiency in a foreign language. Staff support personnel have sometimes
been trained in a foreign language due to their military occupations. A small
number of military personnel have native fluency in a foreign language.
Most personnel nominated for a Defense Attache System billet by the Services
require some foreign language training. Personnel who have had prior foreign
language training typically are given 16 to 20 weeks of refresher training;
individuals with no prior foreign language training are given 24 to 44 weeks
depending upon the position and language skills required. Occasionally there
are billets that remain vacant because replacement personnel cannot be
obtained; the incumbent has departed early and his/her relief has not been
fully trained; or the attache in training has been dropped from training
because of illness or security problems.
Major problems encountered with attache system billets are a lack of
sufficient training funds, Service nominations, and unprogrammed early
departures from station. In a constrained resource environment, funding for
training is often a major issue. Fiscal Year (FY) 1989 training funds have
been reduced to FY 1987 levels plus ten percent. This means that DIA will be
short $321,600, or 804 student weeks. Attache language training is a must if
the HUMINT mission is to be met. Late nominations do not allow time for
adequate training in foreign language skills. An unprogrammed early departure
from station necessitates, in some cases, that the replacement's training
program be accelerated and language training reduced to get the individual on
station to reduce the existing gap in coverage.
The majority of civilian billets in DIA which require foreign language
proficiency are located in the Defense Attache System. Most of these
requirements consist of the Romance languages for which DIA has no problem in
attracting qualified candidates; almost all these candidates are college
graduates who have majored in the desired specific foreign language. There
are only two civilian positions -- one bilingual research technician position
which requires Portuguese and one translator position which requires the Kanji
dialect of Japanese -- for which candidates are scarce; however, to date, DIA
has been able to successfully staff these billets through external
advertising.
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With respect to the three positions in the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action
Office (VO-PW), which require proficiency in the Vietnamese language, DIA has
had no problem recruiting candidates. Most selectees have served or lived in
Vietnam as members of the U.S. Armed Forces and are familiar with the language
and culture of the area. Other DIA headquarters positions cited as requiring
foreign language proficiency are not difficult to fill, particularly those
involving Russian. The majority of individuals possessing Russian Area
Studies degrees have a Russian language proficiency.
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C. In general terms, describe your language training effort (i.e., sources of
training available, levels of training required, time needed to train to the
required level of operational effectiveness, problems in meeting training
requirements and how you are attempting to overcome them).
DIA's Defense Attache System foreign language proficiency requirements vary
among the 94 Defense Attache Offices (DA0s) worldwide. The majority of these
requirements are S2+/R2+ or S3/R3 based on Interagency Language Roundtable
Language Skill Level Descriptions. Historical data indicates that
approximately 90 percent of the attache personnel who completed the basic
foreign language course met or surpassed established proficiency requirements.
The primary cause for failure of trainees to meet minimum proficiency
requirements is a result of directed early withdrawal from language training
in order to fill vacancies in attache offices overseas caused by unforeseen
reasons (e.g., PNG or medical emergencies of on-station incumbent personnel).
Within COWS, DIA personnel who will be assigned to the Defense Attache System
receive foreign language training at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI),
Department of State; the Defense Language Institute (DLI); and through
commercial contract training by the Washington office of the Defense Language
Institute. Approximately 125 personnel receive language training annually.
The duration of required training varies, depending on the proficiency level
required, the relative difficulty of the language, and the language aptitude
of the trainee. As a rule, an S2+/R2+ level can be achieved in 24 to 32 weeks
for Romance and Germanic languages; 44 weeks or more are required for the most
difficult languages (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian).
One of the problems in meeting DAS language training requirements is that
sufficient funds are not available to support all language training needs.
DoD pays approximately $400 per student week. Funding cuts (Gramm-Rudman et
al.) have reduced language training quotas to a level below minimum
requirements. Some of the actions being taken to correct this are: appeal
for restoration of funding cuts; review established langauge proficiency
requirements to concentrate on mission essential needs to make more training
man-weeks available for the most critical training requirements at the expense
of less critical needs; and an increased emphasis on the selection of attache
system personnel who already possess foreign language proficiencies.
Another problem often encountered is that attache language student training is
sometimes hampered by directed early withdrawal from language classes. This
is the result of a requirement for a military member to report on station
earlier than originally projected due to the recall of his/her predecessor.
For these and other reasons some withdrawals do occur and management actions
being taken to address this problem include: ensure that the Services
nominate DAS candidates early enough to permit assignment to DIA in time to
attend all required training, including language training; sensitize DAS
managers to the criticality of language proficiency levels; and take advantage
of language training opportunities on station to fulfill language proficiency
shortfalls.
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In the absence of specifically stated language training requirements to those
organizations providing such training, especially those teaching attache
students, instruction is largely geared to what the language school staff
perceive to be needed by the students. Such military-specific areas as
military vocabulary are relegated to a minor emphasis. Action is being taken
to correct this situation relative to attache students. DIA is developing a
Statement of Needs with emphasis on language skill requirements unique to the
Defense Attache System. From this language course curriculum, the
instructional staffs will be assisted in the development/modification of the
curriculum to fit DIA's requirements.
With regard to foreign language training overseas, the Foreign Service
Institute operates schools in Japan (Japanese), Korea (Korean), Taiwan
(Chinese Mandarin and Cantonese), and Tunisia (Arabic) for basic and
intermediate training in the languages indicated. The U.S. Army Russian
Institute's Foreign Language Training Center in Germany offers basic,
intermediate, and advanced Russian language training. Feedback from DAS
personnel who have attended these schools indicate that the quality of
training is excellent. The major problems encountered by DAS personnel remain
a lack of funding and a shortage of available time for the training. It is
hoped that the corrective actions mentioned above will alleviate these
problems.
For those DIA employees permanently assigned to the Washington, D.C. area,
who, as part of their job, require foreign language capability are supported
through training obtained from the following sources:
- Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) Headstart,
Gateway, and Refresher language materials maintained in the DIA library for
loan to DIA employees.
- Local university level evening language courses.
- Foreign Service Institute early morning, familiarization, short-term,
and full-length courses offered in Rosslyn, Virginia.
- DLIFLC full length language courses at Monterey, California.
- Summer immersion language programs (e.g., Middlebury College and
Norwich University, Vermont).
Most DIA analysts in Washington who require a language proficiency skill
primarily need a reading capability. Reviewing all source documents in the
target language allows the analyst to fully comprehend the content as well as
the cultural meaning of the material being reviewed.
Over the past two years, with the assistance of DLIFLC funding, DIA has been
able to offer small group language training courses at DIA. Courses have been
offered in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, French, Korean, and
German. Current constraints on DLIFLC funding may preclude offering these
courses in the future.
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D. Describe your career development programs for language personnel. What is
their average pay grade at entry, journeyman, and professional levels?
Discuss your language incentive programs. Assess their impact on skill
enhancement and retention.
DIA employs both military and civilian intelligence analysts, some of whom
must possess a foreign language proficiency as part of the overall
requirements of their positions. Entry level professional analysts begin at
the GG-07 level with the journeyman level considered GG-13. The full grade
range for the civilian intelligence professional is GG-07 through GG-15. In
the military sector, the grades of intelligence personnel range from Sergeant
through Colonel. DIA employs the use of formal career ladders in the civilian
employee career development program; however, the career ladders, per se, do
not indicate language training as "minimum essential". There are, however, at
least three intelligence career ladders (Scientific and Technical, Military
Geography, and Resources-Economic) that cite language training as
"Skill/Position Enhancing". These are at the Mid-Level (GG-11/12) and the
Expert Level (GG-13).
A language incentive program does not presently exist for civilian personnel
to maintain their foreign language capability. DIA submitted a request to OSD
in March 1988 for a civilian foreign language proficiency pay program. If
approved, civilians in DIA and the military services who possess a critical
foreign language skill would be eligible for proficiency pay along the same
lines that currently exist at NSA, CIA, and State. Military personnel who
possess a critical foreign language skill fall under their respective Service
foreign language proficiency pay (FLPP) programs. With the military FLPP
still in its infancy, it is too early to assess the impact on skill
enhancement or retention. In time, however, DIA feels that the FLPP program
for military and civilian personnel will make a significant difference in
retaining personnel with critical foreign language skills. This retention is
a critical factor if the DIA and the Services are to be ready to meet future
peacetime and contingency requirements.
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E. Describe the process(es) by which your organization produces a product
from foreign language material. Are sufficient library and reference
resources available? What role does automation play?
Within DIA, foreign language translation services are provided by the Agency's
Reference Library, Translations Unit, using contractors in the Washington
metropolitan area. The unit provides English translations of foreign language
documents, as well as translation from English into a foreign language of such
materials as briefing slides, itineraries, etc. The DIA library has no in-
house translation capability. Most foreign materials translated into English
are disseminated to the DoD Intelligence Community as Intelligence Information
Reports (IRs). The Translations Unit uses automation only as a record
keeping device for tracking expenditures and the status of work at each
contractor.
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F. Identify key problem areas in meeting unanticipated and future foreign
language requirements. Describe current and planned initiatives to enhance
your ability to respond to these difficulties. Exclude the use of indigenous
foreign nationals.
It is difficult to determine which of the world's many languages or dialects
will be needed by DIA personnel in the future. The Defense intelligence
community can, in theory, look at potential trouble spots throughout the world
and train analysts in languages that could meet future peacetime or
contingency operations. However, with limited manpower growth anticipated in
the future, Agency managers will be less than amenable to sending employees to
full time language training, especially in languages that require 47 weeks of
instruction. Part-time instruction, although more agreeable to management,
takes a significant amount of time to produce anyone with a level 2
proficiency. Hiring employees who already possess the target language would
be one solution. Through part-time instruction or self-paced learning, the
employee would be able to maintain his/her proficiency level.
DIA has submitted General Defense Intelligence Program (GDIP) budget
initiatives to provide personnel and fiscal resources required to man new
Defense Attache Offices (DA0s) planned during the next five years. None of
these initiatives have been ranked within the level of probable funding.
Should the opportunity arise to open a new DAO, resources must be redirected
from within the DIA base budget. DIA continues contingency planning for
opening DAOs in Afghanistan (Dari), Ethiopia (Amharic), Angola (Portuguese),
and Cuba (Spanish) which would require training in the languages indicated.
Funding support is a major concern in all areas of foreign language training
for DIA and DoD. Under the current constrained resource environment, the
requirement to open a new DAD is impacted by the availability of resources.
Both manpower and money will have to be found to support the post.
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G. Estimate the status of the foreign language effort of your organization in
five years, i.e., mid-1993.
DIA will continue using resident training at DLIFLC, FSI, and civilian
contractors to meet the needs of both DIA's Washington staff, as well as for
those individuals being assigned to the Defense Attache System overseas. The
Washington staff generally requires a Level 2 in reading while Attache
personnel require a Level 3 in both speaking and reading.
Over the next five years, DIA will continue to offer part-time language
instruction to the CONUS based staff in up to ten languages as determined
through an annual needs survey. As new non-resident language materials are
developed by DLIFLC, or other sources, DIA will obtain copies to be made
available to Agency personnel on a loan basis. This will permit employees
desiring to maintain or enhance their language proficiency to do so in a self-
paced environment. As language materials are developed using computer based
training (CBT) or interactive videodisc instruction (IVI), DIA will obtain
copies. The CBT packages will be made available for employees to use in a DIA
learning facility. For those with a computer in their office or in their
home, the materials will be given out on a loan basis. With the limited
availability of IVI equipment, employees would have to use this form of
instruction in a DIA learning facility. CBT and IVI are fast becoming a
resource for self-paced instruction, as well as a valuable tool for
instructors who can use computer assisted instruction (CAI) as a supplement in
instructor led classes.
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H. Describe the accomplishments of your organization which you feel would be
of interest and benefit to the Community.
The Defense Intelligence College (DIC), through the Defense Academic Research
Support Program (DARSP), has supported, for the last three years, an effort to
develop a personal computer-based system to aid in the problem of foreign
language skill maintenance and enhancement. This effort, under contract with
the University of Pennsylvania, has produced a prototype system for Russian
which emphasizes reading skills as most critical to the average intelligence
analyst. This system includes an on-line Russian/English dictionary, an
archive of political-military oriented Russian text, and text retrieval. The
first release of the system has been installed for testing at DIA, the Defense
Language Institute, and the United States Air Force Academy. Further work
will emphasize modifications and refinements of the Russian system and
transfer to additional languages.
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I. List any recommendations you may have for improving the Community's
foreign language effort. Are there projects or initiatives which should be
funded jointly to support Community needs? Are there resources that could be
shared?
The use of technology will be key to learning a foreign language in the
future. The use of CBT, IVI, CD ROM will aid individuals in reviewing
lessons, language grammar drills, and in reinforcing areas where the
individual has demonstrated a weakness. CAI should never totally replace
instructor led classes, but should be used by instructors and students as a
tool in learning a foreign language. Individuals who have completed formal
resident language training will need non-resident language materials developed
to maintain or enhance those language skills learned. Without these
materials, language proficiency will erode rapidly.
The continuance of foreign language proficiency pay will provide individuals
with an incentive to maintain their proficiency even when they may not be
actively using the foreign language in their current position. Each Service
should look at their retention programs. Many first term enlisted military
personnel trained in a foreign language are not being retained beyond their
first enlistment. A reenlistment bonus, base of choice assignment, or a
guaranteed promotion all might be ways to retain individuals who possess
critical language skills needed by the Intelligence Community.
DLIFLC and FSI offer language training in their basic courses that will, in
most cases, permit the employee to reach a Level 2 in reading, speaking and
listening. With many requirements existing in the community at a Level 3, the
community needs to look into the establishment of a total immersion language
facility that will permit the training of individuals to the 2+/3 level. The
immersion language programs used by civilian universities (e.g., Middlebury
College and Norwich University) are examples of short-term, high payoff
training courses. Students in 6- to 8-week programs are normally able to
increase their level of proficiency by 1/2 to 1 whole level. Immersion
programs work and should be used by the community. The facility should be
located in the Washington, D.C. area to permit the resources to DLIFLC, FSI,
CIA, NSA, and civilian contractors to be used in providing instruction in
multiple languages.
If more individuals received foreign language training at the primary and
secondary school level, the job of language training at DLIFLC and FSI would
be far easier. Rather than concentrating on basic grammar skills, DLIFLC or
FSI could devote time to more complex forms of learning the target language.
Many nations include a second language in their basic core program from the
first grade. If possible, the community needs to send a message to Congress
advocating a change in education policies, to include learning a second
language along with the other primary educational skills of reading, writing,
and math. This is not only important to the security of the United States, it
is also critical if the U.S. is to remain competitive in the world market.
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Other recommendations for improving the Intelligence Community's foreign
language effort include:
- Obtaining restoration of DoD language training funding reductions.
- Obtaining additional funding for language training enhancement and skills
retention programs to include civilian language proficiency pay.
- Obtaining additional funding and personnel for language schools' course
curriculum development.
- Obtaining funding to increase pay and allowances for language instructors
and managers to attract and retain highly qualified personnel.
- Considering establishment of a consolidated, modern foreign language
training facility for federal agencies.
- Establishing a community foreign language "Czar" to articulate and lobby for
a strong, well funded, foreign language program.
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