CLIP-B is alive and well....

AROTC-dad

Moderator
10-Year Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2014
Messages
6,837
For those of you who are in Army ROTC, my DS (an MS-IV) just received a payment of $1,000 for passing first year Mandarin with a "B" grade or better. DS didn't even KNOW about the incentive for Critical language. His HR rep apparently saw the class and grade report and called him to the office to sign the reimbursement form.

Here is a document I found online about it. (Chapter 9 - page 54)
http://arotc.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CC-Reg-145-1-AUG-2016.pdf
 
Last edited:
Good for him! Way to make it rain money!!!!

I only know 2 Chinese pictograms. One is a house with a pig in it and it means contentment. The other is a house with two women in it and it means discord. Go figure. :D I learned this from my Taiwanese office mate years ago... I suppose he could have been pulling my leg.
 
That is wonderful. Do you know if the incentives for languages are there at service academies as well? My son is a beginner in Arabic, aspiring to either SA or ROTC. He was fortunate to study on scholarship with the State Department's National Security Language Initiate for Youth (NSLI-Y) program in Morocco last summer.
 
That is wonderful. Do you know if the incentives for languages are there at service academies as well?
The memo header says Army ROTC, so it does not address USMA. Perhaps your Admissions Officer for USMA may have the answer.

Good luck to your DS!
 
You would have to ask your chain of command. CLIP-B is strictly Army ROTC based on the memo I posted.
 
The bonuses continue on Active Duty as well.
So can USMA cadets earn CLIP -B?

I don't know about USMA.

My DS commissioned out of AROTC where he did collect CLIP-B payments. He is AD right now and receives some kind of bonus for proven language proficiency. Next time I speak to him I'll get the details. Believe me, he knows all the angles.
 
Thank you AROTC-Dad. My DS has taken several Russian courses as part of his minor (while contracted) and took the regulation provided by you (AROTC-Dad) to his PMS. His PMS was able to confirm the CLIP-B and told him it was $200 per credit hour (with a B or greater). My DS is now receiving a much-welcomed $1200 and he will receive more when completing this semester. The cap is $3K per academic year so this is a huge perk for those studying a critical language. The information he received also seems to indicate "cultural classes" in those languages may also qualify. Can't thank AROTC-Dad and this board for all the help...bear in mind, my DS is at a pretty "established" ROTC/Corps of Cadets and at no point did anyone key-in on the fact that the CLIP-B was even available. There is so much to gain by sharing information and would love to know from (cb7893) what the other incentives are once commissioned. Thank you!!
 
Thank you AROTC-Dad. My DS has taken several Russian courses as part of his minor (while contracted) and took the regulation provided by you (AROTC-Dad) to his PMS. His PMS was able to confirm the CLIP-B and told him it was $200 per credit hour (with a B or greater). My DS is now receiving a much-welcomed $1200 and he will receive more when completing this semester. The cap is $3K per academic year so this is a huge perk for those studying a critical language. The information he received also seems to indicate "cultural classes" in those languages may also qualify. Can't thank AROTC-Dad and this board for all the help...bear in mind, my DS is at a pretty "established" ROTC/Corps of Cadets and at no point did anyone key-in on the fact that the CLIP-B was even available. There is so much to gain by sharing information and would love to know from (cb7893) what the other incentives are once commissioned. Thank you!!

First off, congratulations to your DS. That is a great testimonial about SAF in general and @AROTC-dad in particular.

https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus

https://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/FLPB.html

These links pretty well give the specifics about the bonuses. They use a sliding scale based on proficiency and strategic importance of individual languages.

For years, I have been a proponent on SAF of American kids learning foreign languages, just like their contemporaries in other countries. The bonuses are really the least of the benefits for military members who have command of a foreign language and feel comfortable in a foreign environment. It can be a ticket to a transfer by request or a deployment (which are becoming rarer). It is a way to differentiate oneself and make one's Army life a little more interesting.

My DS had the good fortune of having a mother from Poland where all of her family lived. He was comfortable with being in a room full of people speaking to him in either jibberish or heavily broken English. We also encouraged him and he jumped at the chance to do two Rotary Exchanges where he lived with families where no English was spoken.

While in school he took advantage of Project Go, studying Russian in Kiev. He didn’t start Arabic until his Senior year. He chose the very unsexy Signal Branch and he got his first choice of duty station in Kuwait. Given his personality, he made every effort to speak with everyone from bus drivers to kitchen help. He will tell you that an American even trying to speak another language is afforded an automatic measure of respect.

Without going into too much detail, while in Kuwait he received a transfer by request to join an SF group that deployed to Kuwait, but whose Area of Responsibility is South America and the Caribbean. His Arabic was useful to them in the ME and his Portuguese and and Spanish are important to them now that he is stateside.

The Group sent him to jump school. He gets to do some training alongside the long tabbed soldiers. They made him Officer in Charge of a training mission of Green Berets to Brazil because there are no Portuguese speakers in his unit. He’s not a Green Beret. He’s a Signaleer!?!?

Of course, you go nowhere in the Army (or shouldn't) if you can’t do your job and his job is making sure the phones, computers and radios work. So if you can do your job, differentiate yourself and add value, it will get noticed.

Given the Geopolitics of the day, I’ve got to believe that a good facility with Russian will get noticed. Also, just as my DS picked up Spanish by virtue of his facility with Portuguese, your DS can do the same with a host of Slavic languages. I should know. I had four years of college Russian and two years later I was saying my wedding vows in a small town Polish church...in Polish.
 
Thank you AROTC-Dad. My DS has taken several Russian courses as part of his minor (while contracted) and took the regulation provided by you (AROTC-Dad) to his PMS. His PMS was able to confirm the CLIP-B and told him it was $200 per credit hour (with a B or greater). My DS is now receiving a much-welcomed $1200 and he will receive more when completing this semester. The cap is $3K per academic year so this is a huge perk for those studying a critical language. The information he received also seems to indicate "cultural classes" in those languages may also qualify. Can't thank AROTC-Dad and this board for all the help...bear in mind, my DS is at a pretty "established" ROTC/Corps of Cadets and at no point did anyone key-in on the fact that the CLIP-B was even available. There is so much to gain by sharing information and would love to know from (cb7893) what the other incentives are once commissioned. Thank you!!

First off, congratulations to your DS. That is a great testimonial about SAF in general and @AROTC-dad in particular.

https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus

https://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/FLPB.html

These links pretty well give the specifics about the bonuses. They use a sliding scale based on proficiency and strategic importance of individual languages.

For years, I have been a proponent on SAF of American kids learning foreign languages, just like their contemporaries in other countries. The bonuses are really the least of the benefits for military members who have command of a foreign language and feel comfortable in a foreign environment. It can be a ticket to a transfer by request or a deployment (which are becoming rarer). It is a way to differentiate oneself and make one's Army life a little more interesting.

My DS had the good fortune of having a mother from Poland where all of her family lived. He was comfortable with being in a room full of people speaking to him in either jibberish or heavily broken English. We also encouraged him and he jumped at the chance to do two Rotary Exchanges where he lived with families where no English was spoken.

While in school he took advantage of Project Go, studying Russian in Kiev. He didn’t start Arabic until his Senior year. He chose the very unsexy Signal Branch and he got his first choice of duty station in Kuwait. Given his personality, he made every effort to speak with everyone from bus drivers to kitchen help. He will tell you that an American even trying to speak another language is afforded an automatic measure of respect.

Without going into too much detail, while in Kuwait he received a transfer by request to join an SF group that deployed to Kuwait, but whose Area of Responsibility is South America and the Caribbean. His Arabic was useful to them in the ME and his Portuguese and and Spanish are important to them now that he is stateside.

The Group sent him to jump school. He gets to do some training alongside the long tabbed soldiers. They made him Officer in Charge of a training mission of Green Berets to Brazil because there are no Portuguese speakers in his unit. He’s not a Green Beret. He’s a Signaleer!?!?

Of course, you go nowhere in the Army (or shouldn't) if you can’t do your job and his job is making sure the phones, computers and radios work. So if you can do your job, differentiate yourself and add value, it will get noticed.

Given the Geopolitics of the day, I’ve got to believe that a good facility with Russian will get noticed. Also, just as my DS picked up Spanish by virtue of his facility with Portuguese, your DS can do the same with a host of Slavic languages. I should know. I had four years of college Russian and two years later I was saying my wedding vows in a small town Polish church...in Polish.

This is great intel. Thank you. Yes, my DS has always had an interest in Russian and went the the University of North Georgia's immersive summer program called FLSA (Foreign Language Summer Academy, I think) for Russian (during high school). He spend months there learning the language and culture. He also spent a summer in Kiev as part of a special wrestling camp at their national center. It's now been part of his major at Texas A&M and he's about to head to Kiev this summer for 10 weeks (study abroad). Amazing coincidence to your DS's path. My DS is also considering Signal or Combat Engineer because his goal is to work towards serving as or with a SF unit. When he was enlisted (he's SMP), he was placed in an SF basic training group after posting one of the highest PFT's in their eval week. He graduated #1 and they tried to entice him to say enlisted (and go right into Ranger School).

It's very encouraging to hear about your DS and his Signal path leading to all these opportunities....not to mention his language proficiency and drive to seek new areas within the Army. Very impressive!
 
Has anyone ever heard of back pay for CLIP-B? I have 2 semester of Arabic prior to contracting.
Answering my own question because I missed it, for anyone else that is curious:
"9-3. CLIP-B Program. Only contracted Cadets in good standing may request CLIP-B payment. Any classes taken prior to contracting are not eligible for payment. Classes taken during the same term the Cadet contracted are eligible"
 
Going to have DD look into this once she is at her school this Fall. She is majoring in Cyber Security with a minor in Russian studies. Thanks for the info.
 
Resurrecting this thread. Anyone get CLIP-B recently? DS contracted and has been taking qualifying classes for last two years. Submitted paperwork, but received nothing. Maybe there a particular timeframe to follow?
 
For those of you who are in Army ROTC, my DS (an MS-IV) just received a payment of $1,000 for passing first year Mandarin with a "B" grade or better. DS didn't even KNOW about the incentive for Critical language. His HR rep apparently saw the class and grade report and called him to the office to sign the reimbursement form.

Here is a document I found online about it. (Chapter 9 - page 54)
http://arotc.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CC-Reg-145-1-AUG-2016.pdf
So is this a course he took while in college? My son could do something like this. He can’t start in his major for year since it’s impacted so he could take a critical language for a year.
 
So is this a course he took while in college? My son could do something like this. He can’t start in his major for year since it’s impacted so he could take a critical language for a year.
Yes, this was while he was an Army ROTC cadet at college.
 
Back
Top