Briefly, somebody in the Government gets that we need to be able to communicate with the world. Should it have been State, they are afterall the ones who "own" public diplomacy, right? DoD Announces Increase in Foreign Language Pay.
The Department of Defense announced
today an increase in Foreign Language Proficiency Pay (FLPP) for
military personnel who qualify effective June 1.The Fiscal Year 2005
National Defense Authorization Act authorizes the Secretary of Defense
to increase FLPP pay from a maximum of $300 per month to a maximum of
$1,000 per month for qualified active duty members and offer a $6,000
per year bonus for qualified Guard and reserve members.Enhancing the department’s
FLPP program is a critical facet of the overall Defense Language
Transformation initiative. The purpose of the program is to:Encourage people with a language capability to self-identify in order to employ the language skills existing in the force.
Encourage more people to study a language.
The Defense Language Program must stimulate the acquisition of language
skills and be able to maintain language skills of strategic importance
to the department.Encourage people to increase their language proficiency to create a cadre of language professionals operating at an advanced level of proficiency.
Increase the capability in languages of strategic need to the department.
The enhanced program will emphasize languages needed to support the
Global War on Terror, the recommendations of the Quadrennial Defense
Review, and those of strategic importance to the Department of Defense.
