Army's New Translator Company

Week of November 03, 2008

The recently formed 51st Translator Interpreter Company at Fort Irwin, Calif., is the first unit of its kind in the Army. The company provides uniform-wearing interpreters and translators to units deploying to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan and will eventually include more than 140 native speakers of languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu, Kurdish and Dari. The Army is working to have every soldier contribute in some way to its language capability. Some 178,000 Soldiers have signed up to use the Rosetta Stone language learning software available online through Army Knowledge Online. Soldiers may also use the tuition assistance program to take language courses, even if they are not pursuing a degree. 

Interested in becoming a military translator? Learn more on Military.com.