FromDanial D.Top
the Pick
By Col.
A global endeavor - this is
what comes to mind after four
months in command at the
Defense Language Institute
Foreign Language Center.
Though I have served at
DLIFLC and the Presidio of
Monterey as the director of the
Foreign Area Officer program
just over a year ago, it is only
now that I realize the magnitude
of the DLIFLC mission.
The Institute is no longer
a quaint little school on
the Presidio of Monterey
educating only professional
linguists. It is an incredibly
dynamic institution that has
stepped up to the challenge
of training beyond the eight
schools and the Basic Course,
and has established Language
Training Detachments (LTDs)
in 23 locations world wide.
These detachments are training
a broad range of students, from
enhancement and sustainment
for professional linguists, to
small unit leaders headed to
Afghanistan. The students
are from all Services, and in
the case of the Af-Pak Hands
Program, they are mid-grade
officers and senior NCOs.
In addition to these “brick
and mortar” operations,
DLIFLC is delivering
language and culture
training through web-based
modules such as Rapport and
HeadStart2. Read about the
visit of the Chief of Staff of
the Army, General George
Casey Jr., who approved
Rapport, an eight-hour
mandatory language training
module for all predeploying
Soldiers starting Oct. 1, 2010.
Headstart2, an 80 to 100-hour
language training program,
will be completed online by
one small unit leader per
platoon prior to deployment, if
no DLIFLC LTD is nearby.
Through “virtual” training,
DLIFLC has enabled students
to reach back to instructors
from their deployed locations
for specific periods of
instruction. These blended, or
hybrid, models of delivering
instruction are utilizing
cutting-edge technology in
the classrooms and online.
DLIFLC is delivering
education to professional
linguists, Special Operations
Forces, General Purpose
Forces, and Foreign Area
Officers wherever they are in
the world.
At the same time, the
faculty and staff at the Presidio
of Monterey are hard at work
developing current, relevant
curricula using authentic
materials and tests for very low
range pr oficiency assessment.
My first four months here
have been characterized by
admiration for the amazing
team of professionals who
make DLIFLC a global
endeavor, delivering what
commanders and senior leaders
need for our missions in Iraq,
Col. Danial D. Pick
Commandant
Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
I am looking forward to
working with the world-class
faculty at DLIFLC and beyond,
to help improve the processes
through which we have already
accomplished so much – and
will achieve in the future.
Col. Danial D. Pick
Commandant
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