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More language bonuses offered to sailors

Sailors who use their foreign language skills as part of their service are now eligible for higher monthly pay under an expansion of the Navy’s Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus Program, announced Monday.

Before the change, bonuses were restricted to those serving in specific billets, such as cryptology, which rely on language skills. Now sailors who can prove proficiency and use certain languages on Navy missions are also eligible for bonus money.

The new policy means language-savvy sailors can be reassigned and deployed if they avail themselves of the extra cash. But it also provides added pay to skilled sailors assigned to special warfare, expeditionary combat, Fleet Marine Force and medical units — including individual augmentees — with even minimum skill levels.

The new policy also provides bonuses to those who use their skills in contingency situations regardless of assignment.

For example, use of a common language like Spanish during a humanitarian assistance mission in Latin America can trigger the bonus.

The new rules also provide bonus money to graduates of the Defense Language Institute who maintain proficiency levels and as well as higher bonuses if they improve, according to Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) David Baker.

He manages the Navy Foreign Language Program Office responsible for the new policy. In an example of the expansion of the policy he said a sailor using even a basic level of language, like speaking French on a deployment to western Africa, may now collect bonus money.

“We want to make sure those sailors weren’t disadvantaged,” Baker said.

In the past, language pay policy was geared specifically for professional linguists at certain required proficiency levels. The new rules are spread across the force.

“What the old policy did is it left out a whole group of sailors,” said CTIC Robert Medley, also of the foreign language office.

Bonuses are determined using a matrix of proficiency and the demand for the language. The higher the skill and the higher the need for the language means a higher bonus. At the maximum, a sailor who can speak Arabic and Farsi like a native for example, could collect $500 a month for each language.

Sailors fluent in “non-dominant in the force languages” such as Arabic, can collect the bonus year-round regardless of assignment, Baker said.

Other use of languages in shorter contingencies would trigger a monthly bonus based on the duration of the mission, but even two weeks would trigger one month of bonus pay, Baker said.

Of course, those who collect the bonus money are also on a short list for mission-tasking and reassignment.

“If the needs of the Navy are ‘Hey, we need you to use your language here,’ the Navy can send you there,” Medley said.

The push for language competency comes from the Defense Department as part of its war on terror initiatives. Realizing that the military has a serious weakness understanding potential friends and foes alike, the Pentagon has made foreign language proficiency a high priority.

In October 2006, the Navy conducted a language survey throughout the force and the results were surprising. Some 274 different languages and dialects are spoken among the 138,000 foreign language-speakers in the fleet, from Swahili, spoken in east Africa, to Uighur, which is spoken by the Muslim population in western China.

“The breadth of all the languages readily available in the force, it wasn’t just mainstream languages, some if these are down in the weeds,” Baker said.

Baker and Medley encouraged sailors with skills to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test to establish eligibility, to consult Navy Knowledge Online and contact the language program manager or educational services officer in his or her command.

“It’s good for the Navy and this is a great leap forward in language transformation in the Navy,” Medley said.

A sailor who can prove they’ve used their skills on a deployment for example, but hasn’t taken the proficiency test, gets a 90-day grace period upon return from deployment. But beyond being eligible, the test offers an incentive to improve and hone language ability, as bonus amounts are linked to skill.

“It’s important for these sailors to go out and test,” Baker said. “If they’re already tested, and they improve, it’s better for the Navy and the sailor.”