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Navy offers cash, perks for foreign languages

The Navy is offering extra cash, college credit and more to sailors who can prove their foreign language skills.

The Navy Foreign Language Program Office boosted its foreign language proficiency bonus program last year, altering previous restrictions on foreign language skill pay. Previously, only billets that demanded language skills, such as cryptology and some intelligence positions, earned additional pay.

In addition to extra pay, sailors are eligible to earn college credits if they score high enough on language tests available through the Navy College Office.

Enlisted personnel can qualify for a Navy Enlisted Classification for foreign language skills.

Officers are eligible for college credit and pay bonuses, as well as the opportunity to apply for one of 100 spots at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif.

“We’re not trying to make master linguists out of the force,” said Mark Neighbors, director of the Navy Foreign Language Program Office. The service is trying to take advantage of the foreign language capacity it already has, he said, especially native speakers.

Neighbors said the Navy has a database listing language competencies within the force. As of July 1, the service had more than 143,000 records of sailors knowing more than 300 languages, he said.

Included are languages of little practical use to the modern Navy, Neighbors said, such as Gaelic, historically spoken in Ireland.

If a sailor passes the proficiency test, he could be tapped to assist in missions where the Navy has a need for specific skills.

Bonuses are determined by listening, reading and speaking proficiency, and by the demand for the language. A sailor with a high skill in a language the Navy needs will collect more bonus money. For example, a sailor who can speak Arabic and Farsi like a native could collect the maximum $500 a month for each language. If few sailors are fluent in a given language, those sailors can collect the bonus year-round, regardless of assignment.

Conversely, those fluent in languages in which the force has a surplus of speakers, such as Spanish and Tagalog, are not eligible for the year-round bonus.

While a native Spanish-speaking boatswain’s mate on a frigate based in Norfolk, Va., would not automatically earn the pay, Neighbors said, the sailor could qualify for a bonus if the ship is in South America and works with Spanish-speaking navies, requiring the sailor to use his language skills.

“You speak for an hour or two, and I’ll pay you for a month,” Neighbors said, explaining how the bonus is paid based on the length of a mission.

Speak up

To collect a bonus or earn college credit, sailors with language skills should visit the Navy College Office or contact the Navy Foreign Language Office in Arlington, Va., at (703) 693-7213.