U.S. Military English Language Requirement Under Fire

U.S. Newswire.com ^ | 8/9/2005

[Boston Blackie]

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A retired Army colonel is currently circulating a proposal that would strike down the military's English language fluency requirement and permit Spanish speakers to take the entrance exam in Spanish. According to the Associated Press, retired Army Col. Michael F. Valdez is currently in contact with his Senators and officials at the Pentagon, hoping to have his home state of Oregon as a test location for the project.

[Shawndell Green]

Bad idea.

[conservativecorner]

It would be really nice if all your troops talked the same frigging language for God's sake. What a complete dumbarse!!

[EagleUSA]

Oh, wonderful, just what the military needs. Soldiers that cannot understand commands and training in the English language. F-ing IDIOT !!!!

[Peach]

Get out!

This has GOT to be a joke. How in the world can someone join the military if they don't speak or write or read English?

[kharaku]

Yes dammit we want soldiers on the battlefield who have no freakin idea what the general's orders mean!

[chris1]

Don't worry, Dane and Bayourod will be here in short order to defend this and convince us why this is a good thing.

[absalom01]

Reality imitating art?

[Peach]

Hah! They can try but never seen to gain much traction.

[Cool Multiservice Soldier]

A retired Army colonel is currently circulating a proposal that would strike down the military's English language fluency requirement and permit Spanish speakers to take the entrance exam in Spanish. According to the Associated Press, retired Army Col. Michael F. Valdez is currently in contact with his Senators and officials at the Pentagon, hoping to have his home state of Oregon as a test location for the project.

This is a bad idea, what happens if during a combat situation a group of people get killed because they can understand each other's language? Make english the ONLY language in the U.S. Military.

I like what a sticker I saw said "Welcome to America.....Now speak f---ing english"

[verity]

Old bastard has gone senile.

[solo gringo]

I would not go in battle with someone that did not know my language.

[VeniVidiVici]

Dumbest ... idea.... ever.

At least we can take solace in the fact that he's retired.

[Dane]

Sheesh people can't you all ever tell when you are being played like a fiddle by the liberal media.

Sheesh the guy is a retired Colonel for God's sakes.

But what the hey you all always gotta have something to be "outraged" about.

[cripplecreek]

"How in the world can someone join the military if they don't speak or write or read English?"


They aren't supposed to be truck drivers either but the company my mother works for now requires the trainers to speak spanish.

[SE Mom]

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!

[drypowder]

One would take a Colonel to be smarter than that. The Tower of Babel comes to mind.

[hershey]

No, no, no....

[kellynla]

The United States Army! "We don't need to speak Engli!"

[robowombat]

Maybe we can imitate the old Austro-Hungarian Army. In that polyglot force the 'words of command' were given in either Hungarian or German. NCO's only needed to know about 100 words in either language to execute commands given by officers. Of course the Hapsburg empire collapsed in the wake of WW1 and dissolved into constituent ethnic elements. Leading to many of the preconditions that made ww2 possible. But that is another story.