Posted on 07/27/2005 5:55:44 PM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA - It's déjà vu - again.
Some civilian community leaders are again looking to bring the military's Defense Language Institute to Fort Huachuca or to build a campus for the school in Sierra Vista.
The Defense Language Institute - DLI - was added to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission list last week, which could lead to transferring the school to another area. DLI is now located at the Army's Presidio of Monterey in California.
In 1993, Sierra Vista leaders suggested DLI be moved from California to Arizona because of the importance language training had to the military intelligence community. Training soldiers in military intelligence was and continues to be one of the main missions on Fort Huachuca.
Fort Huachuca 50 President Tom Finnegan said on Tuesday that the 1993 proposal to move DLI "is being dusted off."
Randy Groth, University of Arizona South associate vice president and dean, said that when the first attempt was made to bring DLI to Sierra Vista, there was support from then Gov. Fife Symington, who promised to ensure money was available to build a campus off the post to support the military's language training.
Both men said getting the current governor, Janet Napolitano, and other state leaders on board to see if DLI can be relocated to Sierra Vista area if the BRAC commissioners decide to move the operation will be crucial.
Finnegan, co-chairman of the governor's Military Affairs Committee, admits it will be a hard sell.
The BRAC process has changed from what it was in the 1990s, although politics continue to be a major part of communities vying for missions.
In 1993, DLI was not on a list to close, but Sierra Vista leaders and some fort military leaders in the background supported moving the language school to Sierra Vista.
That set up a battle royal.
California officials went on the defensive and the offensive, attacking the wisdom of moving DLI to a place where language students would have little ability to take part in immersion programs by speaking with everyday individuals in different languages that is available close to the Presidio of Monterey.
DLI spokeswoman Patricia Ryan said the command group at the California installation "was surprised" that the BRAC commissioners wanted to revisit the potential movement of the special school.
About 3,000 students, of which a third are learning Middle East languages, which are critical to the nation's war on terrorism, are currently at DLI, she said. Courses range from six to 18 months.
The presidio also includes a highly educated instruction force, she said.
According to the MilitaryTimes 2005 guide to worldwide military installations, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center has 403 active duty people, 878 faculty members and 345 faculty support personnel working with more than 5,300 students a year.
The student load has increased, as has the number of faculty members, Ryan said.
California offers the ability for students to mingle with native speakers of the nearly two dozen languages taught at the school. Ryan said the close proximity of San Francisco and other immigrant communities, such as Afghans, is perfect for immersion training.
The technology used at DLI also allows students to watch news programs from foreign sources that are helpful for them to understand the nuances of a language as it is spoken on the streets, Ryan said.
The technology could be transferred, but it would be expensive, Ryan said.
"We hope to get to stay here," the spokeswoman said. "But we will do what we are told."
Fort Huachuca Spokeswoman Tanja Linton said commenting about any potential BRAC decision is inappropriate.
"BRAC is still in progress. We stand by the BRAC process," she said.
While Sierra Vista forces mounted an attack on DLI to move it in 1993, Finnegan said the current atmosphere is not the same.
"I'm having a hard time rounding up support," he said.
Issues about growth in the area and its impact on water use that could impact the San Pedro River could be a stumbling block, Finnegan said.
Tricia Gerrodette, president of the Huachuca Chapter of the Audubon Society and a longtime activist against growth, said she is concerned about the idea of going after DLI.
The only favorable thing she sees is that the BRAC commissioners will have to look closely at water mitigation. If they do, she said they will see moving the language school to either the fort or Sierra Vista cannot be done.
However, growth will continue, but it doesn't have to be helped along by bringing DLI to the area, Gerrodette said.
As for city and county elected officials, she said, "They seem determined to grow anyway."
Finnegan said, "My point is what's good for the city and good for the economy has to be looked at and we'll deal with the water problem the best we can."
In the next couple of weeks, he will be gong to California to attend a meeting with the Southwest Defense Alliance, an organization that tries to ensure the southwest region of the United States keeps defense installations to support the military.
Saying he doesn't know how the other members of the alliance, which is meeting in Monterey, feels, Finnegan said, "I'll take their pulse."
Lisa Atkins, co-chairwoman of the governor's Military Affairs Commission, is not too keen at this time to see if the state wants to push to get DLI, Finnegan said. Her initial thought is not to make waves, noting Arizona did not come off badly in the current BRAC process, he said.
Groth also said trying to obtain DLI this time could be an uphill fight.
"The last time, we submitted an unsolicited bid," he said. "This time we will be starting at the very bottom."
But it is important for someone to step forward and be ready in case the commissioners decide to move DLI, Groth said.
In 1993, Symington committed to a building a campus in Sierra Vista to house DLI. The estimated cost was $60 million, and Symington supported paying a bond initiative back at $4 million a year, Groth said.
What has to be done is to see if Napolitano will support a statewide effort to bring the language school to Sierra Vista if the BRAC commissioners decide the schoolhouse at the Presidio of Monterey is to close, he said.
By building a campus for DLI off the fort but close enough for other training, it will save the military from spending money, Groth said.
"It will be good for Sierra Vista and good for the state," he said.
More like a closet Center for BioDiversity EnviroNut.
I'm a 1983 DLI graduate. Nice school.
Class of '74...Anacostia Harbor, D.C. German. Watched Nixon leave and Ford take over.
01-84 DLI Presidio of San Francisco, Honor Grad, Valedictorian, Kellog award. Not to brag or anything...LOL
Which language?
"Not to brag or anything...LOL."
Promoted to E-3 at midterm, E-4 at end of course. Top of my class (of 4)...not to brag or anything.
Entschuldigung - Auf Deutsch, Das Verteidigungsspracheninstituet. Es tut mir leid.
german
I was on a plane to CA the next day.
Keine Ursache!
Graduated in 1997. The location is beautiful there, along the Monterey Bay. Carmel is quite pretty, too.
Wie Du willst.
MOS 11B2PLGMH
Man, you Monterey people had it easy. Washington, D.C. in the summer. My TW's would wilt before I got to class. Cockroaches in the school you could saddle!
Those were the days.
I met Mr. exDemMom at DLI, in 1980. A couple of years ago, we took exDemSon there and showed him our old barracks. Monterey is a beautiful town. I would be sad to see DLI move.
I went through basic German there in 1988. Loved it! I wonder what they'll do with all the instructors. They're not going to want to leave Monterey and go to Huachucha.
My best DLI memory was a day in class where the previous night's assignment kicked everyone's butts. We all failed the next day's quiz, including the Lt. Colonel and a Major that were in the class with us. The instructors got mad at us and we gave them some attitude, so they sent the department head to come in and yell at us. One of the guys tried jokingly to say something stupid in German and the department head yells at him in English, "You must learn to conjugate your WERBS!" The whole class fell in the floor laughing and she stomed out of the room.
I also went there for a Russian course. One of the instructors had been a strong-man in a Siberian circus. I think he was the single most offensive person I ever encountered in my life. He could swear profusely in several languages and was incredibly abusive. If you said something incorrectly, he'd yell at you: "How can you be so incredibly STUPID! Shut up! Just shut up!"
One night, there was a fire drill scheduled and one of the student training advisors tipped us off in the NCO dorms. When the alarm went off around 10 pm, we all went outside with lawn chairs, coolers, and wearing togas. It was a lot of fun.
I loved the Portofino Cafe down in Pacific Grove and Nepenthe out in Big Sur. Good memories!
Were Herr Doktor Professor Schoenradt and Herr Doktor Proffesser Fleming still there?
Fleming seems familiar. I never heard of the other guy. My favorite instructor was a guy named Juergen Sottung. He was a lot of fun.
98G2LGMK3
The K3 (Electronic Warfare) I picked up in Europe.
Hey Greg,
I too was at DLI for basic german in 88!!
AAE
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