Language Enabled Airman Program announces selections

(Before It's News)

Air Force Culture and Language Center

11/27/2012 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – Foreign language experts from around the Air Force recently met at the Air Force Culture and Language Center, part of Air University’s Spaatz Center for Officer Education, to select the latest participants for the Air Force’s Language Enabled Airman Program. More than 500 people from across the Air Force applied, and on Nov. 8, officials notified 206 Airmen of their selection to LEAP.

The recent selection board was unique, said Jay Warwick, AFCLC director. For the first time since the program’s activation in 2009, a large number of enlisted candidates were able to apply.

“We are thrilled to announce the selection of 73 enlisted Airmen into LEAP,” Warwick said. “As a relatively new program, we had to limit the application eligibility during previous boards. We hope that we are able include other categories, such as Air Force Reservists, Air National Guardsmen and Department of Defense civilians in the near future.”

LEAP is a career-spanning program to select, develop and sustain foreign language capability and cross-cultural competence. The program seeks to provide the Air Force with leaders who have working-level foreign language proficiency, and to select those leaders from across all Air Force career fields, added Zachary Hickman, the AFCLC’s Language Division chief. Airmen must have some foreign language ability to apply, he said.

The selected applicants bring a wealth of language ability with them. The 37 foreign languages represented included Afrikaans, Swahili, and Hindi, among others.

Program officials said that the LEAP selections were shaped by Air Force requirements, and that applicant board scores were based primarily on the need for their language within their Air Force specialty code, defense language proficiency test scores, overall academic portfolio (with emphasis on foreign language course performance), record of officer performance or enlisted performance report, commander’s recommendation, and potential for success in achieving and maintaining a high level of language proficiency throughout their Air Force career.

“The world is growing more interconnected,” said Warwick. “Commanders have a need for cross-culturally competent Airmen — individuals with language, cultural and regional abilities to help them accomplish the global mission. LEAP is a great way to ensure our leaders have those capabilities when they need them.”

LEAP members are already using their language and cultural abilities in real-world missions. Participants have served as interpreters for Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, as well as worked with the Department of State and the Department of Energy in China. Additionally, several LEAP participants recently provided support to a combined training exercise at Hurlburt Field, Fla., with the Polish air force.

Two LEAP selection boards will be held in 2013, a board for enlisted members in the spring, and a board for officers and cadets in the fall. For more information on LEAP, and to check for application period dates, see the AFCLC’s website at www.culture.af.mil.

• Spirituality looks different on all Airmen
• Training Service Dogs Helps Heal Service Members
• DOD Aids Sandy Recovery, Urges Authorization Bill Passage
• Africa mission brings Kentucky National Guard member home By Sgt. Jared Smith HHB 2/138th Field Artillery Regiment Click photo for screen-resolution image Pfc. Ismaila Pam, of Louisville, discusses his ties to Africa while on a mission there. (Courtesy photo) open link in new window download hi-res photo CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti (11/27/12) – Most Soldiers from the 2/138th Field Artillery Regiment hail from Kentucky. Others are from Indiana, Florida and New York. But one bright, young Soldier calls Africa his home. Pfc. Ismaila Pam, an Automated Logistical Supply Specialist from the 2138th Forward Support Company (FSC) of Louisville, was born in Mauritania, Africa, and grew up in Senegal. “Growing up in Africa was a good life.” Pam said, “Everyone in the area is your family, you own most everything that you have to include your home, and electric was very cheap.” When asked how he ended up in the United States from such a far-away continent, Pam said that his father lived in the United States for about 18 years. His father decided to stay in Louisville because he had many friends in the area and he enjoyed the American lifestyle. He settled down and decided to bring his family from Africa. By age 18, Pam completed high school and two years of college in Senegal before moving to Kentucky. Although he could speak three languages, Wolof, Fulani and French, and could read and write Arabic, he didn’t know English. Upon his arrival in Kentucky, he had to go back to high school to learn the language, which brought his total to four languages that he is able to speak. Shortly after his arrival to Louisville, Pam started working as a bus boy in the same restaurant as his father. While on breaks, he could see through a kitchen window how hard his father worked to provide for his family. Pam decided that he was going to find another job trade to be able to help his father so he decided to join the Kentucky National Guard, which enabled him to get a steady paycheck as well as be close to home. When asked how his family feels about him joining the military, he said his father is very proud of him but his mother isn’t too happy about it. She worries about his deployment. Pam stated that it doesn’t bother him and he wants to continue to serve because it is something that he loves dearly. Pam has family who still reside in Africa, to include his grandfather, aunts, uncles and an older brother. If he gets the chance, he would love to be able to visit them while on his deployment. With his unit in Africa, Pam is looking forward to all the possibilities that lie ahead. “It’s very exciting, because we are going for peacekeeping and not war,” he said with a smile.
• 924th Fighter Group reaches milestone in November
• Contract award helps keep BACN airborne
• Grand Forks AFB officer helps bring home missing Vietnam heroes
• Military OneSource Connects Troops, Families to Resources
• Navy, DoD, Developer Announce Wind Farm Agreement to Preserve Training Mission in South Texas
• Command announces 2012 Security Forces annual awards