Dispersing the Fog of War: The Role of the Military Linguist
Dispersing the Fog of War: The Role of the Military Linguist
SSG Alexander Sviridovsky
The wars being fought at the dawn of the 21st century have brought a new level of ambiguity to military science. The nature of our enemies and their tactics have redefined the age-old phenomenon of the “fog of war” in strategic terms. If the military linguist’s competency was once narrow in scope, limited to, for example, SIGINT or HUMINT, the contemporary environment in which he operates does not tolerate such delineation. The value of a military linguist today extends to both tactical and strategic operations and planning, and transcends traditional military intelligence functions to provide support for other government agencies in areas such as diplomacy and homeland security.
I have personally experienced the many and varied missions a military linguist may be expected to handle while serving his country. In 2008, I was serving my second deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition to supporting the nation’s operational intelligence requirements, I continuously participated in ground operations. Because of the requirements of these operations, my daily duties transcended ordinary SIGINT linguist activities. Not only was I supporting the mission as an armed combatant, I was also exercising a skill set traditionally left to HUMINT soldiers by participating in tactical questioning and oral interpretation.
The variety of a linguist’s roles is best highlighted by a 3-month tasking I supported while attached to a liaison team working with forces from the Republic of Georgia. During this tasking, I not only provided direct interpretation for my commander at levels from platoon to brigade, I also performed duties generally assigned to combat arms soldiers, such as planning, execution of patrols, checkpoints and other missions, and training and advising allied forces in proper tactics, techniques and procedures.
Despite the fact that I was a junior enlisted SIGINT linguist, I trained, advised and built professional working relationships with senior NCOs and company- and field-grade officers of an allied force. As a result, my value was partially as an intelligence collector, partially as an analyst, partially as an instructor, and, most importantly, as a diplomat building bridges of trust with a strategic ally.
Certainly, when I signed my initial enlistment contract, my recruiter did not consider it to be a small step toward fulfilling America’s grand plan of diplomacy. My stated role in fighting and winning America’s wars was to be simple intelligence gathering; this still holds true. The value of military linguists is first and foremost as well-trained intelligence collectors and front-line analysts.
Although we are trained soldiers, we are not intended to serve as standalone combat forces. Rather, it is intended that we provide the information necessary to guide the standalone combat forces. No infantry soldier or UAV observer, no matter how vigilant, can possibly glean as much nuance and intention from their observations as can a linguist conducting SIGINT operations, performing document exploitation or directly questioning a captured insurgent during interrogation.
This skill set, including both the target language and an understanding of cultural nuances, is crucial to success in our contemporary operating environment. Other forms of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance add to our understanding of the enemy’s actions and intentions. However, only the linguist can provide a direct, accurate, and even personal insight into the mind of the adversary. This “human factor” is an invaluable asset in combat situations where every minute counts, with no time to debate the true intent of the enemy.
These same skills are readily applied on the domestic battlefield as well. Whether helping to prepare deploying units for interaction with non-combatants or supporting homeland security efforts, the military linguist community supports a myriad of taskings, missions and government agencies. The most highly visible of these efforts involve preparing American forces to properly employ interpreters in their interactions with foreign civilians at the National Training Center and Joint Readiness Training Center.
As non-military threats to our nation evolve, the military linguist adapts and supports efforts to combat them, from assisting the U.S. Border Patrol on the U.S.-Mexico border to cooperating with the Coast Guard in communicating with Russian fishing vessels off the coast of Alaska. While performing highly diverse missions including direct support to the Office of the President of the United States of America, the inherent value of the linguist remains the same: providing clarity in unclear situations by distilling information clouded by the fog of war or cultural nuances into a concise, finished intelligence product.
This unique ability is the defining characteristic of the military linguist. The most important intelligence to an Infantry platoon leader on the ground is not a PowerPoint slide of previous insurgent activity in his Area of Operations; it is the information whispered into the ear of his interpreter which could lead to the capture of his priority target. The military interpreter is a vital link in the chain of communication at every level, whether he is used for tactical questioning or the coordination of friendly foreign forces at the strategic level. He is both weapon and surgeon’s scalpel: a true asset in fulfilling any military mission, at home or abroad. This is an asset whose value is apparent with every timely tip-off that saves the lives of American soldiers, with every bond of trust cemented between military leaders of allied nations, and with every high-priority target neutralized.
