Contact: Josh Holly; 202.226.3988
Opening Statement of Congressman Todd Akin
Subcommittee Hearing on Transforming the U.S. Military’s Foreign Language Skills, Cultural Awareness & Regional Expertise Capabilities
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), the ranking Republican on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, released the following opening statement for the subcommittee’s hearing regarding Department of Defense language and cultural awareness transformation initiatives:
“Thank you, Chairman Snyder, and good afternoon to our witnesses—we appreciate you being here today.
“As the chairman stated, today’s hearing continues the subcommittee’s look at plans to raise the cultural awareness and language skills of the Department of Defense. As we are seeing on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan today, such skills are key to reducing violence and establishing the rule of law. For example, the troop surge in Iraq would not have been effective without our troops’ effectiveness in implementing counterinsurgency tactics, which at their heart require the force to understand and respond to the local populace’s concerns. As any member of Congress knows, an understanding of local issues—a certain level of cultural awareness—is absolutely necessary to winning the support of the populace. The ability to speak the native language is helpful as well.
“Testimony from outside experts in our July hearing on this topic reinforced the importance of our combat forces possessing these capabilities, but left open the question of how much is enough. In the already very full professional life of today’s volunteer soldier and Marine, how much time can we and should we devote to language and cultural awareness training, important though it may be to success on the battlefield, when we can never be sure where the next emergency will take us?
“Today’s witnesses, who represent DOD and the military services, can address these questions. While language training and cultural awareness skills are not new requirements for DOD and the military services, the breadth of the current emphasis is new. My understanding is that the Department has not yet directed any definite training metrics for its personnel, nor have the combatant commanders developed a consistent set of requirements for the military services to meet. I am interested in where that process is going, when we might see further definition of the expected requirement for these skills, and how the military services intend to meet those requirements through a mix of active and reserve military personnel, and federal and contractor civilian employees.
“I applaud the initiative; it is a critical enabler to the success of our military missions and foreign policy, and I am interested in the specifics of the Department’s implementation plan. Again, thank you to our witnesses for being here today.”
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