US Air Force servicemen, who speak foreign languages, get an increase to their salary. Thus, for knowing the Russian and the Chechen languages they will get extra $ 500 a month, the Free Press agency, citing US sources, reports.
Surcharge could ne received by all servicemen, and not only those whose duties require proficiency in foreign languages, for example, interpreters or scouts.
The US Defense divided foreign languages, necessary for the servicemen, into three groups.
The first group - "extremely necessary" - includes, in particular, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Korean, Portuguese, Turkish, Turkmen, Pashto, Dari, Farsi.
The second group - "the languages required in cases of crises, potential threats" - includes Georgian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Uzbek, Serbo-Croatian, Hebrew, Czech, Vietnamese, and languages of some nations in Africa.
The last one - "other languages" - includes Chechen, Ukrainian and several other languages of the former Soviet republics.
Currently, the US Air Force has about 4,3 thousand people receiving language allowance - an average of 500 dollars a month, said the Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Valenzuela.
For the knowledge of two languages, you can get a bonus twice. But the servicemen must annually certify their knowledge of foreign language by passing appropriate exams.
The Pentagon started promoting the knowledge of foreign languages after it concluded that the success of various foreign military operations largely depends on the ability of soldiers to communicate in the native language of the country where they are conducted.
Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center
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