Stepping up foreign language, cultural awareness for Airmen

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Paula A. Paige
  • Secretary of the Air Force Print Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (AFNEWS) --  Air Force officials are broadening their vision of the expeditionary Airman.

Armed with a wide range of combat skills, serving multiple deployments in wartime theaters, this leaner, more agile Airman must now learn to navigate the global cultural landscape.

"Our Air Force needs Airmen who can influence the outcomes of U.S., allied and coalition operations anywhere in the world," wrote Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley in a January memo to the deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel, whose organization has been tapped to develop a process for aligning foreign language and culture skills to meet the service's mission. 

"Unfortunately," said General Moseley, "an insufficient number of Airmen understand and are able to influence events in foreign countries, while existing processes do not enable us to meet current expectations or future requirements. We need to systematically tailor global culture and language competency development to meet Air Force requirements." 

The stepped-up emphasis on foreign language and culture training includes the recent dissemination of a foreign language self-assessment survey sent via e-mail to more than 524,000 active, Reserve and Guard members in the Air Force. By the end of March, all officers in the rank of lieutenant colonel and below, and all enlisted members should have completed the survey. Those who have not can still do so by logging on to https://surveys.af.mil/srvyonl/sentry/FLSA2.htm. 

The survey offers a list of languages for Airmen to select from and indicate their degree of skill. Interested members also can take the Defense Language Proficiency Test to determine if they have sufficient skill in a language of strategic value to the Air Force, and if they qualify for foreign language proficiency pay, or FLPP.

The results may impact prioritization of foreign language development. The service does not plan to require Airmen to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test if they profess proficiency in a foreign language, but could pursue this avenue in the future for specific languages of increasing strategic value, officials said.

The maximum pay for one language is $500 per month; Airmen with multiple language skills can earn up to $1,000 a month. Airmen should contact their military personnel flight testing office to take a defense language proficiency test to see if they are eligible for FLPP. 

The Air Force has identified some languages -- Spanish and French for example -- as being "abundant in the force," and will not pay for them unless Airmen are in a language-designated position or language-inherent Air Force Specialty Code. 

Several tools are available to Airmen to facilitate their awareness of foreign language and culture. The Air Force's Foreign Language and Culture Program office has a new Web page, accessible through the home page of the Air Force's online portal under the "Top Viewed: Training" heading, on the "Language and Culture Development Program" link. For more information, Airmen also can call (703) 693-7106.

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