Army boosts ‘high-need’ language pay to $1,000
By Kelly Kennedy
Staff writer
The thousands of soldiers enrolled in Army language training programs may soon get fatter paychecks.
The Pentagon raised the cap on foreign language proficiency pay from $300 a month to $1,000 a month beginning June 1 for high-need languages. Those languages include Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu.
“Any soldier with a proficiency in languages on the foreign language proficiency pay list is eligible to be paid” extra, said Maj. Gerald Hook, Army language team chief.
Not all foreign languages are on the list because “the Army has enough people who speak these languages already,” he said. So they wouldn’t get the extra pay.
Thousands of soldiers are enrolled in language training through the Rosetta Stone company, Hook said.
“That is just one indicator of the interest in language training throughout the Army,” he said. “The Army needs soldiers who want to learn languages that are in critical demand.”
Soldiers are questioned throughout their careers about their language proficiency, Hook said, and they may be reclassified in jobs where the Army needs them. They may also ask to attend the Defense Language Institute, but that may mean switching jobs, he said.
The Defense Department approved up to $500 per language on the “A list,” or the languages most needed, for a total of up to $1,000 a month for two A-list languages. Languages not on the A list or the “strategic stronghold” list of languages necessary for places where soldiers might deploy — pay up to $300 a month.
Pay also depends on a soldier’s proficiency in a language, as well as how many months of study it takes to learn a particular language. It generally takes longer to learn Arabic than, say, German.
The lists of languages are classified, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said.
David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, has said the military needs people who speak Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu.