This pretty much triples the amount of language pay for the average linguists. One objective here is to "self identify" linguists. Make it worth the effort. Well, now I'd say it's worth the effort. Depending on where your stationed, this could mean a house payment. The breakdown of the language pay rates I've seen, but don't have on hand, but it basically breaks down to Category (difficulty) in the language and the DLPT Score you have. The higher the category and the score, the higher the pay, and multiple languages pays more. You won't get near the $1,000 mark without more than one language.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 421-06
May 10, 2006
DoD Announces Increase in Foreign Language Pay

The Department of Defense announced today an increase in Foreign Language Proficiency Pay (FLPP) for military personnel who qualify effective June 1.

The Fiscal Year 2005 National Defense Authorization Act authorizes the Secretary of Defense to increase FLPP pay from a maximum of
$300 per month to a maximum of $1,000 per month for qualified active duty members and offer a $6,000 per year bonus for qualified Guard and reserve members.

Enhancing the department's FLPP program is a critical facet of the overall Defense Language Transformation initiative. The purpose of the
program is to:

Encourage people with a language capability to self-identify in order to employ the language skills existing in the force.

Encourage more people to study a language. The Defense Language Program must stimulate the acquisition of language skills and be able to
maintain language skills of strategic importance to the department.

Encourage people to increase their language proficiency to create a cadre of language professionals operating at an advanced level of
proficiency.

Increase the capability in languages of strategic need to the
department.

The enhanced program will emphasize languages needed to support the Global War on Terror, the recommendations of the Quadrennial Defense
Review, and those of strategic importance to the Department of Defense.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2006/nr20060510-13007.html

We got a young Marine Private here thats very fluent in Klingonese!

studying a forign language takes a lot of time, the military members must be affored the time nessisary to become profficient at thoes skills. If there day to day is chewing up to much time its not going to happen.

Yep, you do know it all. They'll send you to school for a foreign language as part of your MOS training. And, yes, you can have time. IF YOU MADE IT PAST BASIC TRAINING you'd know that. I was sent to school for one language and picked up two more along the way.

Of course if thats your MOS you will. But any MOS can qualify for the language bounus and if the military wants to have a wide range of people speaking languages outside of linguistics MOS or language professionals then they have to be afforded the time.

I went through the Arabic program at DLI a few years ago and this is great news for our career field. The linguist field is extremely difficult to get into, let alone pass. The idea behind this FLPP increase is that the small amount of adequately trained linguists are being overworked by the current operations in certain areas (especially those fluent in a middle eastern language). The point of the increase is to not encourage people from other MOS's to learn a language, it's to retain those currently in that MOS and already language qualified. The average soldier/sailor/airman/Marine that spends his free time learning a foreign language will be studying until his enlistment is up before they are profecient enough for military standards.

Those already trained and qualified have demonstrated that they have what it takes, and oftentimes (like what Patoloco mentioned) they are tasked with learning additional languages to help with various missions. It's frustrating when people believe they speak a foreign language, but basically all they can do is order a beer and find the bathroom. When I was at DLI, the washout rate was higher than 30%. So 1/3 of everyone that was in a class failed out and this includes all ranks. In the past, it was much higher. Too many people assume they can just walk into a class and soak up a language like a sponge. This almost never happens. The select few that made passed all the entry qualifications to get into a class, then endured the several months (sometimes up to 2 years) of langauge training...only to be released to a unit and get sent BACK to learn another language a year or two later. These are the people that deserve FLPP, not the ones that took a spanish class or two in high school or college.

And that's the good point about the program as structured now. Survival level language will not get you paid (it never did). And the higher the score (fluency), the higher the pay. And multiple languages are now rating even higher pay. And those with more difficult languages (Arabic is one) will rate higher pay than those with Spanish or other more common, "easier" languages.

I see, that makes sence. Is the military having a hard time retaining people that speak middle eastern languages? or is it that so few qualify in the first place for the training or pass the training, etc?

One of the 2 guys I got along with in basic got like 2 pts under what he needed to to go into the linguistics field so he did intel, of course knowing the army they will have him looking for mines in a mine field, to earn his combat pay or whatever, sorry I just couldent resist throwing that in there.

It's a little of both. Getting qualified people that speak a middle eastern language is tough enough, but then there's a guaranteed higher ops-tempo, deployments, and mandatory retraining or learning a second language. It can get quite overwhelming, but the military tries to make it worthwhile by offering gigantic re-up bonuses. A lot of people turn it down though, only because the intel field is very different from the rest of the military. Spending a career in windowless offices, or in some secret facility isn't as cool as the movies make it out to be. A lot of people separate when their time comes, then get hired as a civilian contractor. They make an obscene amount of money doing the exact same job without having to deal with the military aspect of things.

The military aspect of things??? What do you mean by this?

What is exactly an obscene amount of money? its not a trick question im just curious as to what people think obscene is in regards to annual saleries. I think there are alot of misconseptions as to what constitutes an obscene amount of money. depending on where you live 120,000$ can be just enough to get by comfortably (thats not including jet skis, air planes, etc). What I see happening is a widening gap between lower class and upper class, and the perception of money. Most people think 120,000 is obscene because alot only make 30,000 to 40,000 if that. But it is easier to say someone in the 120,000 bracket is making obscene amounts instead of saying 30,000 is skirting poverty.

I see you have added the psychology of economics to the list of things for which you are unqualified to express a learned opinion.

So your deciding what im qualified to talk about now? If something doesnt make sense then say so instead of making a blanket statement about what im qualified to do or say.

An "obscene" amount of money only refers to what one could potentially make doing that job in the military. Compared to an E4, Captain's pay is nice but it still pales in comparison to what some of the civilian contractors make. And about the military aspect of things, I don't think anyone that isn't or hasn't been in can fully understand. When people hear I'm a linguist in the military they think "oh wow cool, that must be so exciting and interesting." The sad fact is that it's more like the movie "Office Space" except we wear uniforms. The only thing that keeps some people going is knowing that there are comrades in harms way, and all the talk of "being part of a greater good" and whatnot. The military is not exempt from the trivialities of any other job but the goal is defending the nation rather than making some CEO richer.

The most important thing is if you like what you do. Not the why but the what, if you like your job most of the time it makes the day go much smoother and makes your qualitiy of life better. So its not always about the money, I believe you have to like what you do. The way I look at it is if I wake up in the morning and think OMG I have to go to work again then its time to start thinking about doing something different. Engineering is an office space like enviornment only I have a window office with a view of the chugach moutians and my office is bigger than a cubical but it is still a desk job and that is what I prefer.

You are right capts pay is not much and E-4 pay I had spent before I got home from guard in the gas tank and buy a few groceries, so it wasent even worth getting yelled at and burning up a weekend for, if I had liked being there I wouldent have cared about the money.