Foreign Language and Active duty

[eaab08]

First of all, sorry if this question's already been asked, it's kinda hard to specify this in the search tool. I was basically just wondering if whether a foreign language minor affects where a graduate is stationed. For example, if I chose to minor in Arabic, would there be an increased chance of going to Bahrain? Same question goes for other foreign language minors, if I go to USNA or an NROTC program I haven't exactly decided which to study, just that it'd be cool to speak some of another language. Thanks!

 

[nuensis]

Not really. Mostly because your minor will not significantly impact your eventual community. The Navy has trained linguists (CTIs) and foreign area officers that will be preferred in official translation/interpretation/liaison duties over someone with just a language minor. The rare exceptions I've seen are folks that can score 4/5 on the DLPT, and the USNA language programs don't get you to that level. For comparison, I know some Chinese majors that only managed to squeak out a combination of 0s, 1s, or (on one solitary occasion) 2s by the end of the four year program.

The language minor will be great background knowledge and regional exposure, and the language department has great opportunities to study abroad that you will have access to, but won't get you to the level where the Navy will take that for consideration in your assignment.

That said, there is plenty of opportunity in pretty much every officer community to be stationed overseas, including Bahrain. It just won't be specifically because you have that extra language minor.

If you are interested in doing those translation/interpretation/liaison duties, Foreign Area Officer is a lateral transfer option (after 6 years of commissioned service, if I remember correctly).

 

[WT Door]

Just on the face of it, a foreign language minor would not affect where you are stationed. My response is given without knowing what career field you want to pursue after being commissioned. Let’s say that you choose one of the following: surface, aviation, or submarine service. The Navy is not going to say because Ensign Gish speaks Spanish, let’s send him to a destroyer forward deployed out Rota, Spain. Or because he has a minor in Japanese, let’ send him to helicopter squadron out of Atsugi, Japan. Or because he speaks Chamorro let’s cut him orders to a submarine based in Guam. If those places interested you because you spoke the language, and you got stationed there, language would be just an added benefit that would allow you to enjoy.

Yes, it would be cool to be able to speak the native language while living abroad.

With what I wrote earlier, there are some Navy billets that require language training. The Navy can send individuals to the Defense Language Institute (DLI) to learn a particular language, if needed. Google DLI and take a peek.

Here is a “Needs of the Navy” story regarding timing and language. There was a LT in my squadron that put in her application to attend Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River. She was not selected. Shortly thereafter there was a “body slam” billet that needed to be filled immediately at the French Test Pilot School. Her “in”, aside from being an aero major, was that she was fluent in French having lived in the Cote d’Ivoire as a youngster. The Navy didn’t need to send her for six months of language training at DLI. Too, bad because DLI Monterey is wonderful in the springtime. I’m glad it worked out for her though.

Good luck.

 

[kinnem]

+1 to @nuensis . They'll use their trained linguists for such assignments. My niece was such an Arabic linguist, totally trained by Army. She deployed to Saudi for at least 6 months, i assume primarily as an immersion experience while on AD. When serving in the Reserves later, she was called back up the first week after 9/11.

EDIT: I would add, as a point of humor, that when I asked how she did some of the "listening" she handled, she told me "I could tell you but then I would have to kill you." I believe she actually meant that!

 

[eaab08]

Thanks for all the replies! Very informative stuff, and great to know more about what I might be in for once I join. A follow-up question: how often do people go to their first choice for active duty (I'm assuming officers have a say in the matter, but not sure). Are some stations more desirable and thus harder to get, and if so are they the ones overseas or in America?

 

[OldRetSWO]

Thanks for all the replies! Very informative stuff, and great to know more about what I might be in for once I join. A follow-up question: how often do people go to their first choice for active duty (I'm assuming officers have a say in the matter, but not sure). Are some stations more desirable and thus harder to get, and if so are they the ones overseas or in America?

In the Navy, it is more about selecting your path - Subs, Air, Surface, Marines, etc. Within those, I think that the only one where you choose a location (homeport) at USNA is with Surface and that is usually a matter of your class rank with the higher you are the better your chance of getting a particular homeport. With the others, your choices are made further down the pipeline (after graduation) and how often you get what you want will vary between communities.
And as for if some places are more desirable, that will vary by what you want, some places are widely desired and thus competitive like Hawaii and San Diego and others are less competitive.

 

[eaab08]

In the Navy, it is more about selecting your path - Subs, Air, Surface, Marines, etc. Within those, I think that the only one where you choose a location (homeport) at USNA is with Surface and that is usually a matter of your class rank with the higher you are the better your chance of getting a particular homeport. With the others, your choices are made further down the pipeline (after graduation) and how often you get what you want will vary between communities.
And as for if some places are more desirable, that will vary by what you want, some places are widely desired and thus competitive like Hawaii and San Diego and others are less competitive.

Makes sense, thanks!

 

[usna1985]

If you want an in-depth discussion of service assignment, there are lots of threads on that topic. The short story is that, if you select wisely as a 1/C (based on your desires, aptitude, class standing, etc.), you are probably >90% likely to get your first choice and at least 95% likely to get your second. Most who don't get their first choice either didn't select wisely (picking USMC #1 if they did poorly at Leatherneck) or get "voluntold" for a community that didn't fill its quota. Only SWOs choose their homeports at USNA. There, it's solely based on class rank. Usually even the "popular" ports last well into the selection process -- however, if you aren't high in your class, you may have to decide b/t particular ship or type of ship (i.e., DDG) and homeport. Non-SWOs go to training right away and select subs/aircraft etc. during or after training.

 

[UHBlackhawk]

I was a German major in college and studied there for a semester. Now with the Army presence in West Germany, you think I would be a shoo-in for Germany. Nope. Korea. Panama. South America. Africa. The Middle East. But never in Germany. Also, as an O-1 through O-2 specific assignments where you would use a foreign language are very rare. Not to say you wouldn't either be assigned someplace where you could use the language or be able to use it in passing, but a specific language assignment at those ranks is very rare. Usually, the military won't put you in those assignments until you are a senior O-3.
This is not to say a foreign language would not be useful. In hindsight, knowing where the Army based me, I wish I had majored in Spanish instead. Even in Africa, I spent time in the Spanish Sahara.
Knowing a language can be useful as a military officer. I spent a good deal of my career overseas and in the Navy, it's a given that you will be overseas. With a language such as Arabic, there is a very good chance you will be in a position to use it. I found learning just a few phrases of a foreign language helped quite a bit in my interactions.

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Knowing a language can be useful as a military officer. I spent a good deal of my career overseas and in the Navy, it's a given that you will be overseas.

> I had 2-3 years of German at USNA , participated in a 3 week Cox Fund overseas study program First Class Summer, and then essentially forgot about German for about 7 years. However, one of the last things I did before leaving the Navy was serve as Wing Coordinator and OPCON for a multi-plane detachment to Germany for a NATO exercise. We were operating from a German Air Force Base, so I had to brush off the cobwebs and handle a lot of things like fuel, logistics, etc. in German. Fortunately, I had the background,, but certainly didn't get picked for the job because of it.

> I do recall there is a language proficiency test that you can take, and if you do well, your language skill is noted in the Service Record somewhere. However, as someone pointed out above, if you are going overseas to a billet where language proficiency is necessary, Navy will send you to DLI and you will learn what you need.

 

[eaab08]

If you want an in-depth discussion of service assignment, there are lots of threads on that topic. The short story is that, if you select wisely as a 1/C (based on your desires, aptitude, class standing, etc.), you are probably >90% likely to get your first choice and at least 95% likely to get your second. Most who don't get their first choice either didn't select wisely (picking USMC #1 if they did poorly at Leatherneck) or get "voluntold" for a community that didn't fill its quota. Only SWOs choose their homeports at USNA. There, it's solely based on class rank. Usually even the "popular" ports last well into the selection process -- however, if you aren't high in your class, you may have to decide b/t particular ship or type of ship (i.e., DDG) and homeport. Non-SWOs go to training right away and select subs/aircraft etc. during or after training.

Just looked at some threads by searching "active duty station" and limiting to this forum. So much information but also really exciting to even think about. USNA has gone from a maybe to top-tier dream school in the past year as I learn more about it.

 

[Capt MJ]

Just looked at some threads by searching "active duty station" and limiting to this forum. So much information but also really exciting to even think about. USNA has gone from a maybe to top-tier dream school in the past year as I learn more about it.

Don’t overlook the fact you can go to the same duty stations and enter the same career paths via the NROTC commissioning path at a college or university that you have selected, earning various types of NROTC scholarships. Some fairly “dreamy” schools host NROTC units or participate “cross-town.” Strongly recommend parallel research to see what is the best fit for you.

Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps - Home Page

The NROTC Program was established to educate and train qualified young men and women for service as commissioned officers in the Navy and Marine Corps.

www.public.navy.mil

 

[cb7893]

The 12 Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers

The hardest languages to learn for English speakers include Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese and Pashto, which all require more than 2,000 class hours. Click here to see the full list of the 12 most difficult languages and their special features. Find out too about the cool benefits of learning them...

www.fluentu.com

@eaab08 ,

I am not posting this link to discourage you, but rather to get you thinking about what is important to you and to think about how hard you are willing to work. Was your question simply using Arabic and Bahrain as an example of matching a language to a posting? Do you have any foreign language experience? To do it right requires effort beyond the classroom.

Each one of the postings on this thread is a different perspective on the same theme, i.e. you will spend many years proving yourself as a Midshipman and Naval Officer, irrespective of your foreign language abilities, before the Navy would want to tap them. And they aren't going to say "Well, Lt. eaabo8 is a half a$$ Surface Warfare Officer, but he speaks Arabic, so let's make him a Foreign Area Officer."

You will find no more of an evangelist for foreign language study than I, whether its two years of high school Spanish or four years of college Mandarian. It opens a new world and it develops critical thinking. If you're truly proficient, it would be a way to differentiate yourself in a competitive environment, but only if you are truly competitive in in your core skill set.

 

[kinnem]

Just have to comment that Arabic is hard. DS took a year of it. His first semester he had a lousy prof, his second semester prof even said so. Be prepared to work hard ig you want to learn Arabic. On a fun note, whenever this topic comes up with DS, I always ask him, "How do you say hummus in Arabic?". He gets it right every time.

 

[eaab08]

The 12 Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers

The hardest languages to learn for English speakers include Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese and Pashto, which all require more than 2,000 class hours. Click here to see the full list of the 12 most difficult languages and their special features. Find out too about the cool benefits of learning them...

www.fluentu.com

@eaab08 ,

I am not posting this link to discourage you, but rather to get you thinking about what is important to you and to think about how hard you are willing to work. Was your question simply using Arabic and Bahrain as an example of matching a language to a posting? Do you have any foreign language experience? To do it right requires effort beyond the classroom.

Each one of the postings on this thread is a different perspective on the same theme, i.e. you will spend many years proving yourself as a Midshipman and Naval Officer, irrespective of your foreign language abilities, before the Navy would want to tap them. And they aren't going to say "Well, Lt. eaabo8 is a half a$$ Surface Warfare Officer, but he speaks Arabic, so let's make him a Foreign Area Officer."

You will find no more of an evangelist for foreign language study than I, whether its two years of high school Spanish or four years of college Mandarian. It opens a new world and it develops critical thinking. If you're truly proficient, it would be a way to differentiate yourself in a competitive environment, but only if you are truly competitive in in your core skill set.

"I am not posting this link to discourage you" Not a problem, I'm not very easily discouraged! I was using Bahrain and Arabic as an example since I knew there was a Navy presence there. I have some experience from HS: I took three years of Latin including AP. I found it pretty fun learning, and I'm certain that spending time outside of the classroom wouldn't be hard (hard work, but not hard to do, if that makes sense). In fact, I think that the semester abroad and language immersion sound really fun, so I'd be willing to put extra attention beforehand to make the most of them during. I think I'm most likely to do Arabic, or maybe Japanese. I know these are some of the harder ones, but they're also the most interesting to me which is important if I'll be spending years on them.

Just have to comment that Arabic is hard. DS took a year of it. His first semester he had a lousy prof, his second semester prof even said so. Be prepared to work hard ig you want to learn Arabic. On a fun note, whenever this topic comes up with DS, I always ask him, "How do you say hummus in Arabic?". He gets it right every time.

This made me look up the correct pronunciation. I now know the correct way, but have no intention of every saying it that way. I've invested too much time into the wrong pronunciation

 

[lipton_hot_tea]

Just have to comment that Arabic is hard. DS took a year of it. His first semester he had a lousy prof, his second semester prof even said so. Be prepared to work hard ig you want to learn Arabic. On a fun note, whenever this topic comes up with DS, I always ask him, "How do you say hummus in Arabic?". He gets it right every time.

Arabic is phonetic and compared to English it is a simple language. I think it really depends on the teacher more than some other languages because the textbooks written for English speakers (from what I've seen) are awful.