Research Summary

Reserve Component Linguists in Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations

The global responsibilities and interests of the United States mean that its forces might deploy anywhere. Thus, foreign language skills can be important to the success of operations, particularly for civil affairs and psychological operations units. Most of the Army's civil affairs and psychological operations capability resides in the reserve components. Although these units have good overall staffing, they fall far short in the needed number of qualified linguists. In 1995, less than 10 percent of the requirements could have been met. This shortfall concerned the Commanding General, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, who asked the Arroyo Center to look into it, focusing on the retention, proficiency, and utilization of linguists in reserve component psychological operations and civil affairs units.

Arroyo Center researchers approached the problem by conducting a series of on-site interviews and by analyzing the Army's personnel database. They discovered the following:

• The shortage does not result from either recruiting or retention problems. Overall manning exceeded 90 percent, and retention of linguists who were in positions requiring language proficiency was above 80 percent, a level far above that normally seen in reserve units.
• Nor does proficiency appear to be a problem. Over 40 percent of the linguists met the limited working proficiency standard, and over 80 percent maintained elementary proficiency levels.
• But too few receive initial language training. An absence of agreement on language requirements and a shortage of initial training opportunities have led to a persistent shortfall of linguists.
• Furthermore, trained linguists are not used efficiently. Many trained linguists are not being used in appropriate positions. Less than half serve in positions requiring foreign language proficiency, and less than 10 percent occupy positions requiring their specific language.
• Shifting requirements appear to cause the shortages and poor utilization. Substantial changes in language requirements, both in number and in mix, were a major factor in the discrepancy between requirements and capability. The number of linguist requirements for civil affairs units grew from 457 in fiscal year 1993 to 1,347 in fiscal year 1995. The mix was also turbulent. For example, the requirements for Arabic speakers in psychological operations units went from zero in fiscal year 1993 to 157 in fiscal year 1995, while those for Russian speakers fell from 225 to 61 during the same period. Changes of this magnitude are difficult for any unit to accommodate and virtually impossible for reserve component units.

To begin resolving this problem, Arroyo Center researchers made two recommendations. First, the Army needs a clear policy for determining language requirements based on mission-related objectives for civil affairs and psychological operations units. Second, policies and procedures must be developed to ensure that language proficiency requirements and individual capabilities are promptly and correctly posted in the various data systems. Such information is now lacking, but it is needed to manage language training and utilization of linguists.

For more information: Reserve Component Linguists in Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations, Ronald E. Sortor, DB-186-A, 1996.