By Tammy Cario

If you were to ask the average service member, chances are they would not equate military classes with a flexible learning system. The military, perhaps by definition, is rigid with rules and regulations. The Hebrew classroom here at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center is very different.

“In Hebrew, every class will basically co-construct their own learning path with the teachers,” said Yaniv Oded, chairperson of the Hebrew department. To illustrate, he pointed out that they use only two textbooks for the classroom. Other language programs, on the other hand, can use upwards of 14 textbooks and over 30 other required books. Oded believes theirs is a very tailored and flexible system that brings success.

“If the students control what they are doing, then they are more engaged. They are happier, they are less stressed,” Oded said. Sometimes being in control and

Mansour Hussein, an instructor with DLIFLC, takes advantage of the sunny morning to teach his Hebrew students outdoors.

engaged is all that’s needed, he added. “You cannot force commitment.”

While he earned his master’s degree, the idea to open up the rigid classroom schedule came gradually from a concept called Human Performance Technology, or HPT, a concept that was developed in the 1970s. HPT is a systematic approach to improving organizational success.

“The key model there is instead of analyze, design, develop,” Oded said, as it’s done in a more typical curriculum, “it’s more things like rapid prototyping.” This means they don’t have one pilot model of a teaching method. A pilot has become political, he explained. “If you do a pilot and it succeeds, it means that others need to do it, too.”

Instead, they use methods he calls initiatives. “We literally produce more initiatives than we can consume. Everybody does their own thing. And by everybody, I mean that the teachers cannot be the only decision maker. They do it together with another team and the students agree to it because they are part of that team, too.”

It works for Airman 1st Class Houston Howard, a third semester student at the Hebrew school. Hearing that he was part of building the curriculum motivated him. “It makes me a lot more interested in what we’re going to do, knowing I don’t have someone telling me what I need to learn. I can learn stuff that I’m interested in as well.”

Dr. Hyekyung Sung-Frear, dean of the European and Latin American Language School which includes Hebrew, said that during student sensing sessions that she conducts there is a noticeable difference with the Hebrew students. “They are very energetic and excited about their learning. They are proud of their involvement in learning.” Which is important, she added because “you can’t force enthusiasm.”

This method of open architecture in the classroom works very well for the Hebrew department because they come together almost as a family. With this kind of curriculum, “we are taking a calculated risk and are trusting the teachers and students,” Sung-Frear said. Oded calls that kind of trust social capital.

Yaniv Oded is chair of the Hewbrew department at DLIFLC. He firmly believes in an open architecture method of teaching. “The notion is that every rule means one less decision. One less decision means people that are less engaged, less professional, less committed. If you control your own destiny, you are less stressed. You are more proud of your craft. You are more involved.”

In HPT, Oded said, “they say you can change your behavior in one of two ways: you can do more training to try to change the person himself. Or you can change the environment. And the environment is usually easier to manipulate and will yield better results.”

For example, in the Hebrew classrooms, they rely heavily on presentations rather than tests. This means there isn’t such an emphasis on memorizing a list of vocabulary words. Most language classrooms have the students memorize a large vocabulary list every day, something Oded isn’t big on. “There is the notion that we don’t forget things, we just lose the path to memories.”

For instance, Oded explained, say they wanted to do a presentation on economy. “What key words do you think you’ll need to use? This is how they create their own dictionary. Neuroscience supports this. First, it decreases stress because you control your own learning versus everything surprises you.” Second, he said, it helps the student retain the words. “It’s suddenly so meaningful because they needed those words.”

Oded explains it this way: “The notion is that every rule means one less decision. One less decision means people that are less engaged, less professional, less committed. If you control your own destiny, you are less stressed. You are more proud of your craft. You are more involved.”

One might think this kind of teaching would breed chaos. Simply based on the consistently high scores the students receive when they take the final test, it doesn’t breed chaos at all. In fact, over the last three years, the Hebrew school has consistently had top scores and one of the lowest attrition rates at DLIFLC.

The reason for this, Oded believes, is that this type of learning promotes independent thinking. “You want to do an initiative? Don’t come to me for approval from above. Ask your team. Check that your students agree. Then go with it. Your whole orientation is toward the team.”

Of course that kind of approach training sounds as far from military training as you can get. When asked if the Israeli culture played a part in what made this

Merl Joshua, an instructor with the Hebrew department at DLIFLC, talks through a classroom exercise with his students.

training work, he said culture was part of it, but not all of it.

In Israel, he said, “they believe that the truth is in the argument. Everybody is engaged enough to argue, everyone is equal. So that’s part of it.” But, he added, there is more to it. You don’t have to be Israeli in order to see the positive aspects of a less rigid structure in teaching. This method of HPT is used by people in the business world that want to get a return on investment, Oded explained, and is applicable to everyone, not just one cultural group.

Seaman Charlene Johnson, a third-semester Hebrew student, took some college classes before she joined the Navy. She noticed a clear difference between her college classes and the Hebrew class. “I would say that colleges are more about lecturing you. They are just making you get the information that is going to be on the test. For our teachers (in the Hebrew program), they really don’t teach to the test, they just teach us everyday things that we need to learn. I think that is why we’re so successful.”

Ultimately, Oded said, he couldn’t have done it without the help of Sung-Frear.

“Sometimes I mess up, sometimes I succeed. But she helps me…she gives us the opportunity,” he said.

“I am not a believer in one-size-fits-all” when it comes to education, Sung-Frear said. “Each language program is unique.” She pointed out that while the Hebrew department has always had high scores, it has gone even further with steady improvements over the last three years. “During every new student input session, I tell them one thing: ‘Remember that you are the ones who make learning happen. You have wonderful teachers but they are just helpers. Be responsible for your own learning.’” In the Hebrew department, Sung-Frear said, she sees the students taking that to heart all the way to graduation.

By Tammy Cario

When you think of jobs that require foreign languages, air traffic controller is not usually first on that list. Especially since English is the international language of air traffic control.

“English language is a little more concise than other (major) languages,” explained Air Force Tech. Sgt. Seth Norman, an air traffic controller and a Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center student in the French department. “Like in French, sometimes you have to get a little wordy when you’re trying to explain yourself. Whereas in English you can say things rather quickly, with one word meaning quite a few things. Time is of the essence in air traffic control.”

Because English is the international language for air traffic controllers, training for a second language isn’t a typical job requirement. Instead, Norman found a French-speaking position through the Enlisted Quarterly Assignments List Plus, or EQUAL Plus, which is a portal where unique jobs for certain Air Force Specialty Codes are listed.

When Norman got the call to say he was approved for the position, he thought he was headed to Paris, France. Instead, he found out his follow-on assignment is to England. “I’m okay with it,” Norman said. “I get to spend a year or so in Monterey and then off to Europe after this, so it’s perfect.”

There are two French-speaking air traffic controller positions at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. Norman’s position at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, is a pool for those positions in Paris or for Temporary Duty assignments where French-speaking controllers are needed.

“The Air Force did not have any registered French speakers eligible to replace those Airmen in Paris, so it was found necessary to send a handful of people to DLI in order for (their major command) to have access to replacements,” explained Tech. Sgt. Dodge, an air traffic controller stationed at RAF Lakenheath and 2016 graduate from DLIFLC.

This also includes TDYs to French-speaking locations such as countries in Africa.

Dodge also used EQUAL Plus to get his job at RAF Lakenheath. He had applied three times for a position where Spanish was required. He was a few months away from getting out of active duty when he applied for his current position.

“I already had a job lined up and had to inform them that I was no longer separating,” he said. Dodge, who has been stationed in England for three years, will soon be heading to Portugal for a year tour before going back stateside. “I’m trying to learn some Portuguese on my own,” he said.

Being part of an air traffic controller doesn’t necessarily mean they use their foreign language in their everyday jobs, so maintenance is up to them. For Dodge, that’s part of why he travels.

On one occasion, Dodge was able to help a friend’s daughter who was sick while they travelled together through Normandy.

“In France, you can’t just walk in and buy some medicine for a flu” like you can in America, Dodge explained. “You have to talk to the person on duty and describe the symptoms.” Because of his fluency, he was able to use his French to accurately explain the symptoms and get the correct medicine for the little girl.

“I have a whole passport full of stamps from European countries,” Dodge said. “I intentionally try to place myself in small towns where nobody speaks English and try to confuse the French or Belgians into not knowing what nationality I am.”

EQUAL Plus is a program that’s unique to the Air Force. If you or someone you know is interested in taking their career on a different path, you can learn more on the Air Force Personnel website by going to the Assignment Management System.

By Tammy Cario

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the National Organization for Victim Advocates named Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s own Dawn Holmes, a sexual assault prevention and response victim advocate, Exceptional Military Victim Advocate of 2019, in a ceremony held in Washington, D.C., April 11.

“I was overwhelmed with winning the award,” Holmes said. “I hope that it brings attention to what I do and how prevalent the problem is, especially in the military.”

When Holmes arrived at DLIFLC in 2017, she already had four years of experience with SAPR in the military and 16 years as a victim’s advocate in total. Having worked as a victim advocate in the civilian sector and with the Department of Defense, Holmes has noticed a major difference between the two.

“I can’t count the number of victims I’ve worked with, whether it be DOD civilians, military dependents or active military or veterans. But I can count the number of victims I’ve worked with that were not also victims of previous childhood sexual trauma. Only one.”

To Holmes, this means people are using the military to get out of some ugly situations and improve the conditions of their lives. And they feel empowered once they join the military and discover all the things they are capable of. But, she added, the military can also be an incredibly stressful time. “Life-changing events are a trigger to trauma,” she said.

With that understanding, it became Holmes’ goal to connect students with each other in a program called Teal Ropes.

“Teal Ropes is a peer-to-peer advocacy for SAPR on post,” explained Airman 1st Class Emilee Kemmerer, a Levantine student and president of the Teal Ropes here at DLIFLC.

“Teal Ropes come together to become part of the solution, not the problem, and end rape culture and educate,” Holmes explained. “They are there as a confidential resource to lead people to us. Not just a victim advocate, but someone that says ‘I will keep your secret. Let me take you to someone who can help.’”

Kemmerer has been an active participant in the Teal Rope program since she arrived at DLIFLC in 2018. She believes being a Teal Rope is one of the greatest things she’s done for herself. “It’s also one of the greatest things I’ve done to give back to anyone that needs it,” she said. While it’s an Air Force program, Kemmerer says it is open to all branches.

Teal Ropes are so named because teal is the color of the sexual assault awareness campaign ribbon and a rope, or aiguillette, is the Air Force’s designation for a service member in leadership who has had special training.

The Teal Ropes program at DLIFLC has grown from four members to its current membership of 29. One of the things Holmes did to encourage it was to foster other programs that encouraged personal interaction.

“We were in a staff meeting and we talked about walking by or driving by students waiting at the bus stop, with people all around them and they’re all doing this,” Holmes held up her phone to her face to illustrate the point that students are isolated from each other. “I thought we can always hike. But who’s going to come to a victim’s hiking group? If they come, everyone’s going to know they’re a victim.” But there have been numerous studies about how healing it is for people to get out into nature, she said. “We don’t come together and say, ‘Hey we’re here to talk about sexual assault.’ We just come together to hike.”

Holmes attributes this and another program, Savory SAPR Sundays, with helping to raise awareness for the Teal Ropes, a group that meets every Tuesday for training.

On top of encouraging the Teal Rope program, Holmes also gives a three hour SAPR brief to all incoming Air Force students. She said people often come through who believe the briefing is not for them because they aren’t rapists, so they tune it out. But, she said, the program isn’t for sexual attackers.

“If I talk to (a rapist) all day for the next seven days, am I going to change their mind?” That’s just not going to happen, she says. Instead, Holmes tells the crowd, “I’m here to change your mind, to get you involved.”

It’s her passion mixed with practicality that helped Holmes earn the NOVA award. In her experience, however, awards are only a small part of the picture.

“I’ve been so supported at DLI,” she said. “The greatest compliment I ever got was someone here telling me, ‘You make us better.’ That is way more than an award.” She added with a big smile, “Mission accomplished.”

By the Mission Public Affairs Office, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

Over 6,000 people attended Language Day, an annual event hosted by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center held at the Presidio of Monterey, May 10. Tents with different country demonstrations and international food covered Soldier Field while cultures from around the globe were on display on the field and in the classrooms.

Once a year, the Presidio opens its gates in welcome to visitors from far and wide to showcase what the students here are learning in language, culture and communication. One of the main elements of Language Day is the stage performances, the majority of which are dances. If over 70 percent of communication is nonverbal, then dance is the international language that transcends all barriers.

Detlev Kesten, associate provost for academic support and co-emcee for Language Day for the fourth year running, thinks dance is a way to show how much people have in common. “To me, dancing and music brings people together. You can dance along as well as sing along, even if you don’t know the words. That’s what brings you closer to the culture and to each other.”

The visitors, which included students, educators and visitors from all over California and more than a dozen other states, were able to watch over 50 stage performances, most of them traditional dances. Because the instructors represent over 90 different countries, the richness of the dances goes beyond the 17 languages taught at DLIFLC. Even if the story lines might vary by culture, the emotions and ideas that play out in dances are universal. It’s often a way for a historic event to be passed down from generation to generation, much like using oral history only with body movements.

Seaman Apprentice Alexis Nichols, a student with DLIFLC studying Egyptian Arabic, was one of the performers for Language Day. She explained how belly dancing is more than just entertainment. “It can be for entrainment, but it can also be fast or slow, more sensual or more energetic. Belly dancing definitely tells a story.” The dance they performed for Language Day, involving men and women, was a love story about the country, Egypt.

Dance is often a gateway that connects the student to their language’s culture, something that is inextricably linked to the other. Because understanding a language is so closely related to knowing the culture, it’s natural to display the cultural dances alongside the languages. Along with spending six hours a day, five days week learning the language, the students and the teachers work several months in advance to learn the choreograph for their dance.

“Language Day is an opportunity to show off. A lot of our students and our teachers are pouring their heart and soul into the teaching and learning in very small groups. That’s not seen by a lot of people,” said, DLIFLC Assistant Commandant, Col. Wiley Barnes. “This is an opportunity to demonstrate the hard work and some of the fruits of the labor that happen behind the scenes in the classroom day in and day out.”

The Army Language School Festival debuted here on April 25, 1952. Its purpose was celebrating diversity of languages and cultures highlighting dances, skits and music from various countries.

By Tammy Cario

On a day set aside for the nation to recognize those fallen in the line of duty, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center honored two service members who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country in a ceremony held May 23, 2019, on Soldier Field at the Presidio of Monterey.

“With the hectic lives we lead today, it might be easy to think of Memorial Day as merely a three-day weekend,” said Col. Gary Hausman, Commandant of DLIFLC. “It’s much more than that. It is a time for our Nation to reflect…It’s an opportunity for Americans to pay homage to those who died serving our Nation and acknowledge the immense debt we owe them and the families and loved ones they left behind.” 

This year, the Presidio of Monterey is honoring two DLIFLC graduates who were killed in action.

Army Staff Sgt. Alexander Conrad was born in May 11, 1992 in Mesa, Arizona. Directly after his high school graduation, Conrad joined the Army as a Human Intelligence Collector. His first duty station was Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where he deployed twice in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His next assignment was to DLIFLC to learn French before he continued on to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne). While on deployment June 8, 2018, Conrad was killed by enemy fire in Somalia.

Sgt. First Class Guy Smith, a drill sergeant at DLIFLC, was Conrad’s instructor for nearly six months while they were both at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona.

“Conrad was an ideal student.  He was curious and focused…He frequently had the whole class laughing.  He was always quick to help out his classmates, and he was one of the reasons the class was so tight knit,” Smith recalled. “The Army and civilian instructors all really liked him too.  He demonstrated leadership potential beyond his years.”

Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Mary Kent was born in Oswego, New York on May 11, 1983. Her passion for languages led her to the Navy and then to DLIFLC where she studied Modern Standard Arabic. After she graduated in 2005, her first duty station was at the Navy Information Operations Command in Georgia, where she volunteered to deploy to Iraq with Seal Team 10. This experience led her to apply to work with Naval Special Warfare, and in 2008 she was accepted for duty as a Tactical Information Operations analyst at Naval Special Warfare Support Activity Two in Little Creek, Virginia. Kent went on numerous deployments during her time in the Navy. In November 2018, Kent deployed to Syria as part of a highly skilled, multi-disciplined task force involved in critical and demanding intelligence work. On Jan. 16, 2019, Kent was killed by an improvised explosive device detonated by a suicide bomber in the city of Manbij.

Sgt. Maj. Clint Rowe, operations sergeant major, Regimental Military Intelligence Battalion, 75 Ranger Regiment at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, knew Kent from when they both studied Arabic at DLIFLC. Their interactions wove in and out of their respective military careers because, as Rowe explained, the signals intelligence world is small and tight-knit.

“Shannon was a rare breed,” Rowe, a former DLIFLC graduate and first sergeant, said. “A female in a male dominant SIGINT world. She was top tier, so good at analysis and so good at Arabic. She was one of those people who everyone gravitated toward.”

During the ceremony, both Conrad and Kent were memorialized on a plaque, their names added to 295 other DLIFLC graduates who gave their lives in service to their country.

Brig. General W. Shane Buzza, Commanding General of the 91st Training Division in Fort Hunter Liggett, California, was the guest speaker for the ceremony. He also honored two service members from his own unit, highlighting their service and memory.

“On this day, and every Memorial Day to follow,” Buzza said, “we will remember.”

By Tammy Cario

It was in early February that 15 Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center students in the Russian program for interpreting gathered in the auditorium at the Fort Ord Department of Defense Center in Seaside, California. They were preparing to write a timed essay in a nationwide contest run by the American Council Teachers of Russian, called the 2019 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest.

Iryna Worman, department chair for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, was one of the faculty members in the auditorium that day. She said that for her, the anticipation was running high. “We started winning this contest in 2013. We had two winners that year. In 2014, we had four.” The numbers kept rising each year. “Last year was eight. It’s a contest. You never know!”

A teacher told them the theme: university life. From there, the students had 60 minutes to write an essay in Russian. No dictionaries, no Google. Just a pen and paper, and their year spent learning at DLIFLC.

“We don’t teach writing,” explained Worman. “We are an interpreting program.” The students are tested on their listening, reading and speaking abilities. “In our program, we have classes like interpreting, translation and history. No writing classes.”

The students were entered in one of three categories: those with no prior exposure to Russian, heritage speakers of other Slavic language other than Russian, or Russian heritage speakers. Almost 1,500 essays from 67 universities and colleges across the nation were submitted. Three judges in Moscow read and scored each essay independently.

A few months after the essays were submitted, Worman got the news that 12 of the 15 students won an award: two gold, five silver, three bronze and two honorable mentions.

“I was hysterical. I hate to brag, but this is something we can be proud of,” Worman said. “Writing this essay is not easy, even for us to write in English.” It’s not just about writing words in a foreign language, she said. “It should be interesting to read. It needs to be something that catches your attention.”

“We prepare students to work for DTRA,” Worman said. “Being a linguist is different from being an interpreter. Just because you know a language doesn’t mean you’ll be a good at it.” It’s a different set of skills, she said. That’s why they encourage their students to enter programs like the essay contest. “It encourages students to learn the language and the culture,” she said. Both are a necessary component to being a good interpreter.

One of the gold medals went to Army Staff Sgt. Alisher Khalmukhamedov, a native of Uzbekistan. Winner of a green card lottery, Khalmukhamedov came to the U.S. in 2008 and joined the Army. “I wanted to realize my potential. Be all you can be,” he said.  He came to the U.S. when the recession was just starting, so job security was also important to him. He became a flight engineer with Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters. For Khalmukhamedov, his military occupational specialty will not change. Once he graduates from the program, he will fly with DTRA, taking aerial photos in conjunction with Russian counterparts in compliance with a nuclear arms control treaty with the Unites States.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Artsem Ivashanka, one of three bronze winners, came to the U.S. from Belarus in 2009. He joined the military, he said, “to support the Constitution and the American way of life.” It was also a chance to travel, he said, and came with a built-in family that military service fosters. For Ivashanka, a medical technician, this is a special duty assignment. When he graduates, he’ll work for DTRA as an interpreter.

At the award ceremony the DLIFLC Provost, Dr. Robert Savukinas, congratulated the students for their accomplishments. “Keep developing your foreign languages,” he said. “Here’s the why: it’s for the oath that you took to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, to enhance the security of the nation, for what you will be doing in your follow-on assignments. We’ll be depending on you to do great things.”

By Natela Cutter

The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center leadership signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Cryptologic School June 11, enabling service members to apply NCS completed coursework toward an Associate of Arts degree in Foreign Language granted by DLIFLC.

“DLI students continue to amaze me every single day with the level of their aptitude and desire for advanced learning. This agreement provides DoD linguists with an additional opportunity to receive advanced learning credit and will advance the academic experience of the workforce,” said DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary M. Hausman.

Under the terms of the agreement, eligible students may transfer a three-credit NCS course from the general education areas of writing, mathematics, and technology. In order to obtain an AA degree from DLIFLC students must transfer 18 units in general education from an accredited institution, in addition to successfully completing their foreign language coursework which is valued at 45 units.

“It’s a win-win for service members and our nation, which benefits from a well-rounded, well-educated national security and cyber workforce,” said NCS Commandant Diane M. Janosek.

By Tammy Cario

Air Force Col. Stephanie R. Kelley accepted responsibility as the assistant commandant of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in a change of command ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey, June 24, 2019. Kelley also took over as the new commander of the 517th Training Group.

The outgoing assistant commandant of DLIFLC, Air Force Col.
Wiley L. Barnes, the former commander of the 517th, reliquished responsibility in the ceremony presided over by Air Force Col. Ricky L. Mills, the 17th Training Wing commander at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas.

Kelley came to DLIFLC from Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, where she was a professor of Strategy and Security Studies in the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, a premier school for strategy.

Speaking to the Airmen at Soldier Field, she said, “Language is not just interpreting, but it’s connecting the meaning” and cultural context behind it. “You will ensure that our leaders understand not only what was said but what was meant” because of their unique skillset. Later she closed her speech with, “I look forward to meeting each and every one of you…”

Barnes, who is headed to the Pentagon in Crystal City, Virginia, challenged the 517th Airmen to keep improving themselves. “It is not a birthright what we are the most powerful nation on earth and the world’s most powerful Air Force. We have to earn it every day.” He urged them to continue being great Airmen and first class linguists.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to command the 517th Training Group,” Barnes said. “In the words of General Jimmy Doolittle, “I could never be so lucky again.’”

By Tammy Cario

The first time I met Henry Klaput, it was not long after he’d had a difficult medical procedure. The 89-year-old was checking the mail when I pulled into his driveway. Though he was walking carefully, the dappled sun did little to hide his straight, broad shoulders and neat appearance. Understated and confident, Henry and his sharp-as-a-tack wife, Maxine, have lived in Carmel, California, for over 40 years.

After we’d settled into their cozy living room, Henry began to share his military experience.

“I was mostly infantry,” he began, speaking of his Army career and when he joined. “I was only 18 years old at the time. I still needed my mother’s signature to get in the service. Which was a long time ago, 1948.”

When Henry retired from the Army 20 years later in 1968, he’d been through two major conflicts and countless skirmishes. He joined just two years before the Korean War began and retired after a tour in Vietnam.

I asked him about his decorations. Casually, like it was no big deal, he said he had a purple heart and several bronze stars.

I repeated back to him in surprise, “Several bronze stars?”

He just shrugged, as if being awarded for valor or meritorious service during combat multiple times was no big deal.

It was ten years into his career with the Army, while stationed in Fort Ord that Henry looked into learning a language at the Army Language School, or Defense Language

Institute Foreign Language Center, as it’s now known.

“When I was first sergeant of a company at Fort Ord, later on I became an operations sergeant. I checked with the intelligence officer and asked him how hard would it be if I went to DLI? He checked on it and said, ‘We can put in the paperwork. What do you want to do?’ Well, I’ll put in for Polish. Polish was my second language at the time. But when the orders came down, they put me into Russian.”

After graduation in 1960, Henry was stationed in Berlin. He wasn’t sure he would get the chance to use his language much as a first sergeant. It wasn’t until the Soviets put up the Berlin Wall in 1961 that Henry was called on to be a translator.

“The colonel would look at me and say, “Okay, Klaput, go put on your blue suit” and off you go. I was interpreting for the State Department… At times I would be interpreting for the Provost Marshal’s Office when he (colonel) would discuss things with the Soviets in East Berlin. We would go there and I would interpret for him there. (Then) we would come back and discuss it.”

He was also a convoy leader for the Soviets traveling through Allied-occupied West Berlin to the rest of Soviet-occupied East Germany.

U.S. tanks facing Soviet tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in October 1961.

“Each one of us would lead a convoy once or twice a week because they (the Soviets) would send troops across just to keep the Autobahn open between the two sectors. It was the only way for them to get through.”

The departure point for those convoys was at Checkpoint Charlie, where Henry would sometimes stand guard. Checkpoint Charlie was a little wooden shack in the U.S. sector of West Berlin that stood in the shadow of East Germany’s looming Brandenburg Gate. It was stood up shortly after the Berlin wall was erected and was the only entrance through which the Soviets could enter West Berlin. It came to represent resistance to the Berlin Wall because of its simplicity and temporary nature.

Henry was able to experience history from his behind-the-scenes view as a military linguist, thanks in large part to his training at DLIFLC.

For more of Henry Klaput’s story, you can visit our podcast site, DLI Lingo, on SoundCloud at https://soundcloud.com/user-477388101 or visit our website at www.dliflc.edu. Look under New at DLIFLC.

By Natela Cutter
DLIFLC Public Affairs

Dr. Kimberly Osborne’s career has been anything but boring. Her jobs have taken her to such far-flung places as Afghanistan, Kosovo and Myanmar. Her vast experience in program planning and evaluation, media crisis management, and cultural studies has led her to her next challenge: reinvigorating the Center for Leadership Development program at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey.

“We all know DLIFLC is a unique place with instructors from all over the world. Each one was hired for some special skill that they have,” said Osborne. “The Center for

Dr. Kimberly Osborne stands in front of her building at the lower Presidio of Monterey near High Street Gate. (Photo by Natela Cutter)

Leadership Development was created to help strengthen the quality and depth of leadership capabilities across the organization and to provide for a happy and productive workforce.”

Created in 2017, the Center was established to enhance DLIFLC’s leadership capacity by providing context-specific training and development for current and future civilian leaders. It was also designed to help promote a highly-engaged and positive workplace that would effectively support the institute’s mission.

“We want to make it easier for people to take initiative for their own professional development. If people want to learn and grow in their career, and if they want to contribute in greater ways to DLI, that should be encouraged,” she said.

In 2013, it was precisely Osborne’s passion about effective strategic communication and cultural studies that led her to the next step in life. That year, she applied to the Department of Defense’s Civilian Expeditionary Workforce and was selected to become the Chief Strategic Communications Advisor to the Afghan National Security Forces.

“Three days after I landed in Kabul, my chief of staff told me that the communications function in the Afghan Army was broken and I needed to fix it. I complained of ignorance, but my CoS said, ‘You’re a scientist, so go figure it out.’ Gratefully, I was given a lot of latitude to do that. With such a varied background, I was able to draw references and ideas from many different places.”

Combining research with her professional experience in large corporations and academia, she crafted new approaches. She and her Army Special Operations boss presented her recommendations to the Afghan minister of defense and his leadership team. Though the plan was accepted and implemented, congressional funding dried up for Osborne’s program, and by 2014, many DOD civilians were sent home.

Right before coming to Monterey, Osborne spent time in Myanmar where she had a Fulbright grant to work in the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement to help support capacity building efforts in government ministries. Her job there was to teach junior and senior staff officers about basic disaster management, leadership, and communication skills.

“For me, it’s important to solve root problems. Whenever I am looking at a business challenge, I always ask why. What is really happening here? Why is it happening? Trained as a communicator and as a qualitative researcher, it’s never enough just to know that things happen. I want to know how to affect positive change,” she said.

Dr. Kimberly Osborne discusses with attendees some of the methods of problem solving in decision making. (R-L) Sonia Estima, CLD Specialist, Dr. Osborne, Dr. Liwei Gao, chairperson at Asian I school, and Youssef Carpenter, education program specialist at the Training Analysis Division. (Photo by Natela Cutter)

With a small staff of three and one temporary detailee, there is much to do. “We are presently in the process of re-examining DLIFLC’s institutional needs assessment. The Leadership Development Road Map will be modified and new workshops will be created,” added Osborne. “As a new initiative, the organization is also starting up a program called the ‘CLD Incubator.’”

“Hopefully, the CLD Incubator will make CLD more accessible to DLI faculty and staff. A new Incubator initiative includes shorter courses — maybe an hour or two — which can accommodate larger groups,” she said.

To reach out to Language Teaching Detachment faculty located around the United States and abroad, Osborne is planning to create asynchronous online content.

“We are partnering with other units across DLI to develop online content … so LTDs and other people who cannot get to a workshop can also participate,” she said. “If our budget situation improves, we would love to be able to take our trainings on the road.”

Currently, CLD offers two-day workshops in Conflict Management, Decision Making, and Foundations of Leadership for Team Leaders and for First Line Supervisors in Monterey.

The most effective way to register for the two-day workshops is by contacting one’s supervisor.

By Tammy Cario

Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Peterson is a two-time graduate from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in the Pashto basic and intermediate courses. Far from being your standard linguist, Peterson’s determination to do something different with his life led him to work with the 75th Ranger Regiment, headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgia. There, he was able to use his language directly assisting the NATO-led Operation Resolute Support.

This is an edited version of an interview, later made into an episode of the DLIFLC Lingo podcast series “Oh the Places you Can Go (with DLI).” The interview has been edited for clarity and space.

What drove you to become a linguist with the Army?

So, Pashto was the third foreign language that I learned. I was an Asian major in college, focusing on Japanese and Chinese. I also studied linguistic anthropology, so I kind of came in at an advantage. I didn’t know what else to do. They canceled my degree program so I was looking at my options. My father was a retired colonel, so I knew that the option was there. I still wanted to do something with languages, you know that’s a passion of mine. The Army told me I could learn Pashto and that they didn’t need Japanese. So that’s how I ended up in Pashto.

But you didn’t start as a linguist.

I joined the Army in 2008 as a human resources specialist knowing that I wasn’t going to stay there. I couldn’t get a top secret clearance coming in. The Army told me I could get a secret and do this job for now and then after a few years, I could reapply, get a top secret, and then switch over. So that’s essentially what I did.

What made you want to work with the 75th Ranger Regiment?

I just liked that they trained hard. Their SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) group is really small. It’s just one small platoon. I had known the guys before and liked them. We just meshed really well. I knew it was going to be a fun place to work, where I’d be able to do stuff I wouldn’t be able to do anywhere else.

What is one way you were able to use your language?

I showed up at this out station and one of the first things they asked me to do was sort of vet the civilian linguists they had. They had hired a couple of locals to help them monitor radios and just radio chatter in the area. I guess it’s well known that you can get paid per language since there are so many languages spoken in Afghanistan.  A lot of guys will come in and say, “Yeah, I speak Dari, Farsi, Pashto,” and they’ll get paid for each one. But the guys I was working for, they weren’t really confident that these interpreters were doing their job, so they just asked me to not let anyone know that I spoke Pashto and just listen and see. Turns out there was only one guy out of the three who actually spoke Pashto.

For the full story, listen to DLIFLC’s podcast on: www.soundcloud.com/dliflc

By Tammy Cario

The holy grail of any big company is numbers. It’s a matter of practicality. Hard facts that don’t always tell the full story but look good for stakeholders and the bottom line. The best outcome happens when numbers and soft skills meet.

That is what has happened with the Marine Corps Detachment at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.

“It bothers me a little to focus so much on numbers,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Willy Pascua Jr., the Senior Enlisted Leader of MCD. “We’re not trying to make numbers, we’re trying to develop better Marines.”

Marines stand in formation during a ceremony at the Presidio of Monterey. (DOD photo by Mission Public Affairs Office)

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Matthews, academics chief at MCD, agreed. “It just so happens to coincide with better graduation numbers.”

Those numbers are a bottom line that tells a story. The graduate completion rate for MCD has improved over the last four years. Since fiscal year 2016, the total number of students who graduated increased almost 7% to 88.6%. Further, in 2019, 94.5% of the Marine Detachment students who graduated met or exceeded the Defense Language Proficiency Test standards, a nearly 5% improvement since 2016.

Pascua attributes that improvement to a holistic approach, a fancy buzz word for something called the whole Marine concept.

“Everything is everything,” said Pascua. Meaning everything – every touch point, every interaction with the Marines – is an opportunity, he said, “a chance to train not just the body but the mind and the soul.”

Matthews believes this holistic approach starts at the beginning with the recruitment process.

“Four years ago, perspective linguists were contracted to become linguists,” before they went to boot camp. “Now,” he said, “respective recruits are interviewed while they’re at boot camp.” This interview process also includes possible experience in their language, interest in learning a language and their interest in the career field, regardless of how good their Defense Language Aptitude Battery scores might be, which must be a 110 or higher to be a linguist with the Marines.

“Based on that information, a call is made on whether or not they will come here to study to be a linguist or go into some other field of intelligence,” said Matthews.

Once the Marines arrive at Monterey, they have 30 to 60 days before their classes start.

“I think the success factor for our Marines in particular is that they spend anywhere from a month to two months before they start class,” said Lt. Col. Jason Schermerhorn, commander of the Marine Corps Detachment at the Presidio. “Having that time really allows us to do some really good training with them and instill expectations.” They learn within a week of arriving what their language will be and are immediately given tutoring and exposure to the language.

They go through MAT, or Marines Awaiting Training, while they wait for their classes to start. “We have a renewed focus on building skills, habits and behaviors that will make them successful,” said Pascua. Those courses include things like a Lance Corporal seminar, Prime for Life and a substance abuse program.

“I think that ties into the type of character we want to build into our Marines from the beginning,” said Pascua.

Lance Cpl. Joseph A. Patrick, a Pashto student at DLIFLC, has been at the Presidio for over a year. He went through the MAT training when he first arrived. “That program gives Marines a chance to relax a bit from all the training,” he said, explaining that between their time at boot camp and Marine Combat Training, they are in training for over 4 months. “You begin to think a little more as a Marine and as a person and not as a recruit.”

Marines running at the Presidio of Monterey. Physical training is an integral – and frequent – part to being a Marine. “I would argue that a lot of our approach is focused on the physical parts in order to create habits that tie into their emotional and mental resiliency as well,” said Pascua. (DOD photo by Masrcu FichtlPresidio of Monterey Public Affairs Office)

Another opportunity to interact is the physical training, an integral – and frequent – part to being a Marine. “I would argue that a lot of our approach is focused on the physical parts in order to create habits that tie into their emotional and mental resiliency as well,” said Pascua. “PT is not just an example of physically training the body. It is very often that we include values-based discussions on the back end of PT as a mentorship opportunity. It’s something we believe builds cohesion.”

And then there is Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, or MCMAP. “The MCMAP program is built on instilling our warrior ethos as Marines into everything we do,” said Pascua. “The Marines have given us the feedback that MCMAP has been huge for them as far as building some kind of resilience but also just releasing some stress in the middle of their day.” It’s one more interaction they get to have with the Marines, he said.

When they finally begin their language training in the classroom, even though MAT might end, the mentoring doesn’t. “It’s not just classes that we give once,” explained Pascua, “but it’s follow through with nearly every interaction we have with our Marines.”

They also have peer-to-peer training. “We try to drive a lot of our efforts to be as decentralized as possible,” said Pascua. “Meaning our tutoring program is designed and run by the Marines themselves.” They identify who needs what specific types of tutoring and identify those tutors that match that need. The leadership discussions and ethics-based discussions are peer-to-peer as well.

“We’ve noticed that, as we build leaders, we build service members who want to own the mission,” said Pascua.

“It’s really remarkable when you give them commander’s intent and leeway, what they’ll come up with,” added Schermerhorn.

Patrick is living proof of that kind of ownership and, as Pascua calls it, buy-in. “We really try to focus on building leaders in the lower ranks,” Patrick said. In his platoon, he added, they are running it as if he and the other E-3s are already corporals. “We’re students, but we are stepping up and taking on those responsibilities in addition to what we’re doing in class.”

In other words, all these trainings and team building opportunities tie into each other to form a big-picture approach to learning so that the students give their all. And along the way, become better, stronger Marines. After all, at the MCD at DLIFLC, everything is everything.

By Natela Cutter
DLIFLC Public Affairs

More than 250 members of all four branches of the services and Department of Defense civilians attended a three-day Advanced Command Language Program Manager Workshop held at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Aug. 26-28.

The workshop was opened by DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman, who welcomed the CLPMs. “Take advantage of this workshop…build relationships across services and agencies, exchange ideas, learn from each other,” Hausman said, following an update about DLIFLC mission and initiatives to bring students to higher levels of proficiency.

Keynote speaker for the event, Sgt. Maj. Dennis Eger, Headquarters Department of the Army and the G-2 sergeant major at the Pentagon, spoke extensively about service member language proficiency readiness. (Photo by Natela Cutter)

Keynote speaker for the event was Sgt. Maj. Dennis Eger, Headquarters Department of the Army and the G-2 sergeant major at the Pentagon, who spoke extensively about service member language proficiency readiness.

“How many of you have language training plans ready?” he asked the room full of military and civilian CLPMs. “Plans are not something that can be done overnight. How did you design the training to lead up to readiness?” Eger asked, adding that preparation is key to keeping the force ready for future deployments.

Eger offered that one of the key elements of being an effective CLPM is “being the Commander’s principal advisor… (even if) they don’t want to hear this language thing, you are the principal advisor, it is your job,” he said, addressing the common notion that foreign language is considered a soft skill and is often put to the side for training consideration.

New this year at the CLPM Workshop was the unveiling of the Helicopter Marine One foreign language program effort. HMX-1’s program grew from one single Spanish-speaking Marine to a full-fledged CLP with more than 30 Marines, Sailors and civilians who are interpreting in support of operations across three continents.

“HMX-1 has no linguist requirement but they travel the world and are currently with the President in France,” said Master Sgt. Ann Sagebiel, who spoke on their behalf at the event. “It is a voluntary program,” said Sagebiel. While the year old program does not provide Marines with linguist pay, she said they were compensated with promotions, awards and extensive travel.

The large gathering of military and civilian foreign language community managers and leaders served as a perfect venue to give awards for the Department of Defense Command Language Professional of the Year and the Command Language Program of the Year.

The winner of the DOD’s best Command Language Program of the Year for 2018 was the 500th Military Intelligence Brigade-Theater, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The award was accepted by CLP manager Daniel Wong.

The U.S. Navy took the DOD Language Professional of the Year program award. Other recipients for their respective services were Staff Sgt. Said Abouharia, of the 704^t th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland; Sgt. Gregory Terpinyan, Headquarters & Support Company, Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion, Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, and Tech. Sgt. Samuel M. Han, 316th Training Squadron Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, Texas.

By Leonardo Carrillo

MONTEREY, Calif. – Fourteen staff, faculty and family members of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center achieved the dream of a lifetime by finally becoming American citizens during a naturalization ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey Sept. 5.

“The road was long and painful,” said DLIFLC Associate Professor Dominique Marie Fontana, who was naturalized in the ceremony along with her husband, Richard. “We had encountered many obstacles that we had to overcome, many demons that we had to fight, but we were finally victorious. The question ‘Where are you from?’ does not offend us anymore, we take it as an acknowledgement of our identity. We are definitely part of the American melting pot.”

Staff, faculty and family members of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center achieved the dream of a lifetime by finally becoming American citizens during a naturalization ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey Sept. 5.

Fontana immigrated with Richard in the mid 1990s after responding to an ad in a local newspaper that was looking for a schoolteacher for an international school in Denver. The couple moved, leaving behind their beloved Brittany in the west of France to chase their American dream. However, they soon realized that dream is not always easy to attain. Facing cultural and linguistic challenges, in spite of years of training in English, the Fontanas found it difficult to acclimate to their new American life.

“The American language and the accent were very different from what I had learned at school,” Fontana said. “I suddenly saw myself with my ten years of English on a raft, drifting in the American ocean.”

Fontana and her husband managed to adjust to their new life in the United States, but after moving to Los Angeles and not being able to find a new job, their visas were about to expire. It took thousands of dollars and a grueling legal fight before they were able to get their green cards in 2014.

Later Fontana started to work at DLIFLC, where she was able to develop her career as an associate professor at the European and Latin American school.

This is a story many immigrants share on their path to becoming citizens of the United States. Like Fontana, 13other members of the DLIFLC community also became citizens, representing a milestone in their life that they celebrate with pride.

“DLI offered us its protection and believed in us. Now it is our turn to show our gratitude and to celebrate this great honor here, in this unique and beautiful place,” said Fontana. “By becoming American citizens together, Richard and I renew our vows, swearing to be committed to each other, to be faithful and loyal to the country, and never forgetting our struggles that have led us to this very day when we can officially call this country our own.”

By Tammy Cario

Modern Standard Arabic, considered written standard for language across the Middle East, could be compared to the Queen’s English. When the students at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center learn Arabic, they begin with MSA and then go on to learn what is considered the dialect for a specific region.

While some people might think it’s confusing, Ayman Alqasem, a Levantine Arabic instructor with the Middle East I schoolhouse at DLIFLC, doesn’t think so. He compares the use of MSA to reading the New York Times.

He said he feels like he needs “a dictionary next to me while reading one of their articles because it’s just loaded with all those low-frequency fancy words,” explaining that the newspaper is full of language not frequently used by the average American on a daily basis. “That’s how I feel about MSA and Levantine. It’s essentially the same language in my opinion.”

It was with that certainty that Alqasem, along with his teaching team, Muhammad Hashwi, Marah Al-Masri, Rolla Alaydi and Nadine Domloj helped their class of 11 students graduate on Aug. 8, all having met or exceeded the DLIFLC standards.

To put that into context, only two Arabic classes in the last two years have graduated without losing a student for academic or administrative reasons. Another defining aspect of this class is the high scores. The closest Arabic class to finish with all their students in the last 12 months didn’t have the high test scores by half.

“I think there were many factors that aligned,” said Alqasem. “Great support from leadership, and great support from the other instructors. One of the most important factors is the students themselves.”

One of those students, Petty Officer 2nd Class Ahmed Amin, came to DLIFLC with some experience with Sudanese Arabic.

“Levantine is somewhat similar [to Sudanese Arabic],” said Amin. He grew up in the U.S. with parents who spoke Sudanese, so he knew the sound of the language to hear it but not to read or write. “There are some words that are used differently between the two languages. When you get into the grammar structure, it’s a little bit different as well.” To Amin, the Levantine language has a lot of slang. “I see it as more fluid. All the dialects have slang,” he said, but to him, Levantine was more so.

With these challenges in mind, Alqasem and his team brainstormed teaching plans that he believed would really help the students.

“I came up with a lot of new ideas that were not tried before and a lot of teachers resisted those ideas,” he said. “I mean, change is always difficult. But Wael Matar [the chairperson of the Levantine department] was 100% supportive.”

“The team and I invested a lot of hours in creating assignments [using technology]. I feel sometimes that the benefit that technology provides is not utilized,” Alqasem said. “So for example, an assignment that is written that you’re going to send electronically has no real added value here.”

He went on to explain that immediate feedback is what makes technology so important. “Most of the time by the time students receive feedback, they have already received other homework. They totally forgot what homework they submitted the night before. So what I did was use technology to give immediate feedback. As soon as the student puts in their answer, they’ll know immediately if it’s right or wrong.” That’s great, he added, because the students will keep at it until they get it right.

Another tool Alqasem used was his fast typing skills

“In speaking sessions, I transcribe every single word the students speaks live on the smartboard,” he explained.

“It was very good,” said Amin. “He’d ask you ‘What are the mistakes you made?’ People are nervous when they speak but when they’re reading it, it becomes clear. They’re like, ‘Oh, I should have said this instead.’ It’s like self-correcting yourself.”

“Students find it very intriguing,” said Alqasem. “They see their errors visually so it helps the students identify them and prevents them from repeating [the errors].”

Monitoring the student’s progress is part of his job, but for Alqasem, it’s more than that.

“It’s not only about effort, the question is, is the effort moving the needle?” he said. “I go month by month and if the needle is not moving, or maybe not moving in the right direction, then I change the strategy.” Those efforts included ensuring every student had the right teacher-mentor when they needed it. If, for instance, a student was struggling with speaking Levantine, he would assign one of the teachers certified in oral proficiency to help them.

Between the instructors, their teamwork, the support and the incredible efforts of the students, their class surpassed expectations by anyone’s standard.

By Tammy Cario

Tadeusz Haska’s story reads like a movie straight out of Hollywood.

Between his parents’ early deaths, his experiences in World War II Poland and the harrowing escapes he endured, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center instructor’s experiences were all frighteningly true.

Haska writes about them in his own words in a book recently published by his granddaughter, Stefanie Naumann. He began writing his memoirs in the 1990s, after he retired from his 35 years as a Polish educator at DLIFLC, she said, but hadn’t finished them by the time he died in 2012.

“I grew up hearing countless people tell my grandfather that his life story must be recorded,” she wrote.

Tadausz Haska, a former Polish instructor at DLIFLC, and his granddaughter, Stefanie Naumann. (Photo courtesy Stefanie Naumann)

Inspired by him, Naumann set out to finish the work that he began, in his words, a bit reluctantly. “I always wanted to write about my life experiences,” Haska wrote in the book, “but I never had enough time. Now that I have the time, I think it is better to live.” However, his wife, daughter and granddaughter convinced him he needed to write it all down. Between his writing, recordings and the pictures Naumann was able to gather, an extraordinary story began to emerge. The book is called, “How Languages Saved Me: A Polish Story of Survival.”

Haska was born in Poland in 1919, six months after it became an independent country and two days after the Treaty of Versailles was signed. His early childhood was idyllic until his father’s death in 1931 and his mother’s subsequent death one year later. Haska and his brother, Antoni, at 12 and 13 years old, began their school year as orphans.

“Our parents taught us that education is the only thing that could never be taken away from us,” he wrote. Because of their determination to stay together and finish school, the two brother managed on their own until they graduated from the Polish version of high school at 18.

Perhaps it was these years of independence that helped them survive the next traumatic 6 years.

On September 1, 1939, just as Haska was beginning his second year of college with a focus on Slavic languages, Germany bombed Poland. Unable to contact his brother or continue college, Haska managed to get one of the last seats on the last train heading to Warsaw, where he planned to join the Polish Army. That train never made it all the way to Warsaw and was just the beginning of his World War II experiences.

Tadeusz Haska (Photo courtesy Stefanie Naumann)

“People often ask me how I survived World War II Poland,” Haska wrote. “The short answer is that I avoided being captured by constantly changing places of living.”

What saved him was his education.

“The most important thing that helped me survive was my knowledge of languages,” he wrote. “I became very good at impersonating Germans.”

During the war, he made use of his knowledge of French by working as a translator, a job that helped him get through the rest of the German occupation. After the war, he helped re-establish the Polish administration in town and at night, he taught Polish language and literature, Latin and French, working 12 to 14 hour days. As an anti-Communist, he quickly realized that Poland wasn’t truly free under the Soviets. He and his wife eventually escaped to America.

By the time Haska moved to New York in the 1950s, he had several more languages to his credit. Two more attempts on his life from Communist sympathizers led Haska to move him, his wife and their young daughter across country to work for the government at a place called the Army Language School in Monterey, California.

“I started the job at the end of April 1951,” he wrote. “Eisenhower was not president yet, but he was campaigning, and he was proclaiming crusade against Communism. All the minorities in the U.S. like the Polish, Czechs, and Hungarians, who were subjugated by Communism, wanted freedom. So, the Army Language School was recruiting instructors for all those eastern European languages and those departments were growing tremendously. Russian was the largest department, but Polish was also becoming very large.”

Tadeusz Haska teaching at the Army Language School (now DLIFLC) in Monterey, California. (Photo courtesy Stefanie Naumann)

It was in his Polish class in 1967 that Ben De La Selva first met Tadeusz Haska.

“I remember him as a soft-spoken, well-mannered and well-educated professional,” De La Selva, a U.S. Army retiree and former DLI educator, said. “That was typical of the DLI Polish faculty of those years. He often shared interesting stories of his efforts to evade Germans, then Soviets during and after World War II.”

By the time Haska got his Ph.D., while still working at DLIFLC, he knew nine languages.

“The way he taught languages was inspired by how he learned languages himself,” Naumann explained. “When he was trying to learn English desperately in Sweden, this company sent him their records of English. He put it in the player, a Linguaphone, I think it was called. He said it was so difficult, he had no idea what he was saying. He mailed it back and told them this was for an advanced English learner, [that he was] brand new. And they told him he had to listen to it 100 times and check it off each time.” Because it worked for him, she said, he used that method with his own students.

“I got to hear many of his life stories growing up that provided invaluable reference points about what is truly important and right,” Naumann wrote. “My grandparents faced unspeakable adversity and they taught me what the courage of conviction means.”

For more videos and photos of Tadeusz Haska, visit www.stefanienaumann.com

By Tammy Cario

If linguists are the unsung heroes of the intelligence world, then language managers are the support that keeps them going.

Command Language Program Managers are responsible for linguists once they arrive at their new station. They help the linguists to train and maintain their language skills, from assisting them in their training schedules to being the liaison between the commander and the linguists. CLPMs also have a second goal, which is to encouraging anyone who has a language capability to test for their language. This, in turn, helps the military maintain a pool of available linguists who can support other Department of Defense missions as needed.

That second goal is where Master Sgt. Robert Snyder, counterintelligence chief at Marine Helicopter Squadron One, and the CLPMs met.

Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) runs test flights of the new VH-92A over the south lawn of the White House on Sept. 22, 2018, Washington D.C. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Hunter Helis)

HMX-1’s mission is to fly the President, the Vice President and other VIPs on short-range flights. Those flights can happen anywhere around the world, making Snyder realize he had an opportunity to build up his Marines and help the mission at the same time.

Snyder speaks Spanish, having been raised in a bilingual family. “A lot of people [in the Marines] don’t know that they can get paid for languages like that,” he said. “They assume they can only get paid for Arabic or Chinese Mandarin.”

“It started out with me just being a master sergeant,” Snyder said. That is, helping Marines. “I was getting them to spread their wings and recognize the talents they have.” He began researching programs and how to get his Marines to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test.

That’s when he saw the connection.

“When we deploy in support of the President, we rely on the embassy to do translation,” Snyder said. If they had the personnel to be the translators, he thought, why not use them instead of a third party? “There are a lot of benefits on the operational security side, knowing that it was our own people” who would do the translating, he said.

Snyder began identifying Marines in his squadron who had exposure to a different language, like, for instance, a Marine who had lived in Panama for a year as a teenager. “We would inventory the squadron. We’d ask [about] their leadership. Are they a good Marine? Are they reliable? Are they good at doing things on their own?” If the answers were yes and if they were interested – the program is volunteer only – they would be sent to learn a new language or build on the language they had.

From there, Snyder went to Master Sgt. Ann Sagebiel, the 2641 military occupational specialty specialist for the U.S. Marine Corps and a former Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center student. Sagebiel has experience not only as a linguist but also, in her current position, as a manager of the billets and training requirements for all U.S. Marine Corps cryptologic language analysts.

“It is rewarding to be able to advocate for language and Marine Corps CLAs at the DOD level,” Sagebiel said. “I get great satisfaction knowing that my office provides funding for them, which allows them to participate in training opportunities that they may not have otherwise.”

Thanks to her position and knowledge, Sagebiel was able to pass on information on policy direction and resources, and then secure Snyder a seat at the CLPM training at the Presidio of Monterey in July 2018. She also linked Snyder up to other CLPMs.

“HMX-1 deserves all the credit here,” Sagebiel said. “They recognized the importance of language to mission success, even though they have no formal language requirements.  They had the initiative to build a program and stand it up from scratch.”

Thanks to Snyder’s hard work, the HMX-1 language program has been in existence for a little over a year. In 2019, it won the Marine Corps Command Language Program of the Year. It was also a contender for the Department of Defense Command Language Program of the Year.

“It was Ann Sagebiel’s guidance and the other language managers who brought me into the fold and helped me stand up this program” Snyder said. “I would not have been able to do it on my own,” That demonstrates the value of the community, he added, and it shows they can do great things when they come together and support others.