Language work use?

navyorairforce19

Prospective Cadet/Mdshpmn
5-Year Member
Joined
May 31, 2011
Messages
29
In the Navy, I am pretty sure that many jobs will not need the use of a foreign language. So, if I was to major in one at Usna, what would be a good mos to use it in. I know about the foreign area officer mos but not a lot of details, so if anyone can answer one or bothe of these questions I would be very pleased.
 
i'm not sure if this helps you at all but i went to nass and i asked my squad leader what i would do with a foreign language major and he said you wouldn't really do anything different than anyone else other than i would get a pay bonus in whatever part of the navy i went into

for example if i wanted to be in the subs branch i would just do that and get paid extra because i would have the ability to translate

sorry i don't know if that helps!
 
Foreign area officer (FAO) is something you apply for slightly down the road in your career, whether you pick Navy or Marines. So, you would commission, learn your job (i.e. get wings, SWO pin, etc.), and then do a tour or two before applying for that track.

The only straight-out-of-USNA career I can see majoring in a foreign language being beneficial for is going USMC and trying for human intelligence (HUMINT), which is an extremely competitive MOS (think 1-2 highly sought after spots per TBS class of 300). Or you could try for a SWO-Intel slot, but those are also few and far between and I don't know how much you'd use a language there.

You can take language tests (at TBS for Marines, don't know when for Navy) to get paid extra, depending on the language and how good you are. Marines get their pay regardless of where they are and what they're doing, but supposedly according to my friends who commissioned Navy, the Navy guys only get paid if they're currently using their skills. For example, in the Marines a guy who spoke fluent Russian would get his language pay all the time, but in the Navy only if he was operating near Russia and actively using the language. Clear as mud?

Bottom line: Don't plan on tying your language major (or any major, honestly) directly to a job in the Navy or Marine Corps.
 
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