military efficiency

Army offering six-figure bonuses for Arabic speakers, after kicking out dozens under DADT.

The Christian Science Monitor reports today that the Army may begin paying retention bonuses worth as much as $150,000 to Arabic-speaking soldiers, “in reflection of how critical it has become for the US military to retain native language and cultural know-how in its ranks.” Yet as Steve Ralls points out, the Army is “taking almost every step imaginable” to keep Arabic speakers except rescinding the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, which resulted in the expulsion of dozens of Arabic speakers and translators. A GAO report found that between 1998 and 2003, more than 60 linguists specializing in Arabic or Farsi were expelled from the military for being gay.

(Think Progress)