I wrote back in April (here):
The United States is at war in Afghanistan. It is not a war we can win without nation building. We cannot nation build without soldiers and civilians fluent in Pashto. In the US, we just are not producing Pashto fluent soldiers or civilians.
Now, AP reporter Jason Straziuso writes (here)
U.S. troops say companies that recruit military translators are sending
linguists to southern Afghanistan who are unprepared to serve in combat, even
as hundreds more are needed to support the growing number of troops.
Some translators are in their 60s and 70s and in poor physical condition --
and some don't even speak the right language.
"I've met guys off the planes and have immediately sent them back
because they weren't in the proper physical shape," said Gunnery Sgt. James
Spangler, who is in charge of linguists at Camp Leatherneck, the largest U.S.
base in Helmand province.
"They were too old. They couldn't breathe. They complained about heart
problems," he said. "We almost made a joke of it. We're almost
receiving people on oxygen tanks and colostomy bags; it's almost getting to
that point."
And that's not the worst of it.
Troops say low-skilled and disgruntled translators are putting U.S. forces
at risk.
"Intelligence can save Marines' lives and give us the advantage on the
battlefield," said Cpl. William Woodall, 26, of Dallas, who works closely
with translators. "Instead of looking for quality, the companies are just
pushing bodies out here, and once they're out the door, it's not their problem
anymore."
Spangler, 36, of Lecanto, Fla., emphasized that translators need to be
physically fit.
"When we have convoys that are out days or weeks at a time and you have
someone that's 60 or 70 years old, I have to put the directive in: I need
someone younger, can get out of a vehicle quickly, can run for short periods if
needed, anything that's required for combat operations with Marines,"
Spangler said.
The company that recruits most U.S. citizen translators, Columbus,
Ohio-based Mission Essential Personnel, says it's difficult to meet the
increased demand for linguists to aid the 15,000 U.S. forces being sent to
southern, Pashto-speaking provinces this year as part of President Barack
Obama's increased focus on Afghanistan. Only 7,700 Pashto speakers live in the
U.S., according to the 2000 census.
Mission Essential's senior vice president, Marc Peltier, told The Associated
Press that the linguists the company deploys to Afghanistan, Iraq and other
countries meet government standards. The military sets no age or weight
requirements, he said.
I have not seen any changes since my April post. Maybe the US military is ramping up its language schools. Maybe not. I’ve not seen a national program to give high school students opportunities to learn Pashto. The Oregon legislature did nothing in their 2009 session. What the AP article describes is desperation. More needs to be done!
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