“To retain language proficiency and readiness to support national security goals of the United States.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings on the importance of foreign language and cultural proficiency for U.S. Armed Forces personnel since 1941, including the post-9/11 establishment of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) as the Department of Defense's premier institution for such training and the role of the Foreign Area Officer program in supporting national security, foreign policy, and military operations.
This section directs the Secretary of Defense to submit to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees an assessment, not later than December 31, 2025, and annually thereafter until December 31, 2030, of Department of Defense recruiting methods to increase attendance at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), which provides foreign language training to military personnel. Each assessment, covering the prior 12-month period, must identify (1) public and private secondary schools engaged by military recruiters for this purpose; (2) the number of recruits from those schools who enlisted or acceded into the Armed Forces and enrolled at DLIFLC; (3) recruiting challenges, including recruiter access to schools, relationship-building activities, student follow-up, and other issues; (4) recommendations for new methods to raise awareness of linguist professions in the Armed Forces and related U.S. government roles; (5) recommendations for procedures to document effective high school engagements; (6) each military department's implementation plan for such recommendations; and (7) measurable benchmarks for current recruiting initiatives. For public secondary schools, information under elements (1) through (3) must be disaggregated by local educational agency, as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).