The Air Force has decided to find out just how many of its airmen already are conversant in a foreign language—and which ones. The service has created an online survey that is mandatory for all enlisted personnel and for lieutenant colonels and below. Gen. Michael Moseley, USAF Chief of Staff, has called foreign language capability a “critical war-fighting skill.” According to an Air Force news release, there is a potential direct benefit for each airman that has demonstrable skill—foreign language proficiency pay. However, the language must be “of strategic value to the Air Force.”
It is critical that the Air Force move forward on the replacement for its E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft to keep the capability “viable” into the next decade and beyond, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told lawmakers May 8.