The Defense Language Institute provides for the linguistic studies needs of the Armed Forces. The problem is not in the availability, but in the selection of personnel. A HUGE problem I have been facing is that the federal government wants “native speakers,” rather than needing to train non-native speakers in a language. The fact that I grew up in the Middle East and had at least a little experience with Arabic has been of no help, because I am not a “native speaker.”
THAT is what needs to change.
Oh my. Thanks for the clarification. MY BIL may have even stated it like that but it was years ago and I could be misremembering. How long have they wanted natives? The problem with that seems so obvious I’m not sure it’s actually necessary to voice it.