Photo By Charles Haymond | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jessie, 55th Intelligence Support Squadron, speaks to a...... read more read more
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With linguists in high demand and the United States Air Force smaller than ever, members of the 55th Wing intelligence community decided to fill a school’s request for an interactive panel.
In one day at Bellevue West High School, 813 students met with 11 Air Force linguists over seven break-out sessions as part of World Language Week.
Inside two low-lit mini-auditoriums, a mix of Airmen from the 97th Intelligence Squadron and 55th Intelligence Support Squadron and tomorrow’s leaders traded questions and answers.
The students wrote various questions on index cards and their instructors presented them to the linguists. The questions would range from, “What is your favorite color, do you get extra money for learning an additional language besides the language you currently speak, and why did you choose that foreign language?” just to name a few.
“It helps us to interface with the community,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Robert Newman, 97th IS. “I just love coming out here talking with younger folks about opportunities and it makes me reflect on training, the things that I went through and just how unique the opportunities that we are afforded as linguists.”
The linguist from Offutt spoke a variety of languages such as Hebrew, Korean, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. In order to qualify as a linguist, they first had to take a Defense Language Aptitude Battery test.
After passing, they attended the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, for at least a year.
For flying linguists, like the ones at Offutt, they may also have had additional requirements such as an aircrew fundamental course and survivor school.
It doesn’t stop there. They keep-up with current events in the countries associated with their language.
“Several of the linguists spoke about what habits they have to develop in order to master their languages,” said Larissa Knudson, BWHS Spanish teacher. “Overall, the novelty of hearing different speakers helped students better understand why languages are an integral part of their education and career choices.”
The Airmen made it a point to encourage the students to not stop until they fulfilled their desires to learn foreign languages because it could greatly benefit their future.
“As part of our activities, we wanted to emphasize the importance of learning a language and how it can help you achieve your goals later in life,” Knudson said. “The linguists are an excellent resource to explain how one can learn and more importantly maintain a second or third language.”
The students and faculty weren’t the only ones who were grateful for the event.
“Not only do we get to educate the community on our roles in the military, but we also get the opportunity to share how they support us and thank them for it as well,” said Master Sgt. Courtney Bailey, 55 ISS. “It's always beneficial to give back to the community that cares for us; that's why it is so important to participate in these opportunities when they become available.”
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2019 17:57 |
| Story ID: | 319182 |
| Location: | OFFUTT, NEBRASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Airmen break down language learning barriers, by Charles Haymond, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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