Panetta Promotes Foreign Language Training

Leon Panetta, the new secretary of defense, is calling on the military to look for new ways to promote language training. In a memo last week to senior Pentagon officials, he said that "language, regional and cultural skills are enduring warfighting competencies that are critical to mission readiness in today's dynamic global environment." He asked relevant military leaders to "establish and execute policies" to "show we value these skills." He called for more "cross-cultural training," and new efforts to "increase and sustain the foreign language proficiency" of military professionals.