{"id":65288,"date":"2022-07-01T20:58:12","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T20:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/01\/none-of-the-us-air-forces-linguists-spoke-ukrainian-then-russia-invaded\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:19:24","slug":"none-of-the-us-air-forces-linguists-spoke-ukrainian-then-russia-invaded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/07\/01\/none-of-the-us-air-forces-linguists-spoke-ukrainian-then-russia-invaded\/","title":{"rendered":"None of the US Air Force\u2019s linguists spoke Ukrainian. Then Russia invaded."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This story is part of the portfolio that won the <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/spjdc.org\/2023\/06\/spjdc-announces-dateline-award-finalists-and-winners\/\"><i>2023 Society for Professional Journalists Dateline Award<\/i><\/a><i> for beat reporting in a newsletter or trade publication.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon knew something was coming in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force reconnaissance planes had flown over eastern Europe for months, staffed with military linguists who could interpret what nearby Russian forces were discussing as they prepared to invade neighboring Ukraine in February. The U.S. had pledged solidarity with Europe\u2019s second-largest country and approved more than $1 billion in military aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was just one problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have no Ukrainian-specific linguists. We don\u2019t train Ukrainian,\u201d Staff Sgt. Bobby Brown, airborne language analyst program manager, recently told Air Force Times on a visit to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/photo-galleries\/2022\/03\/06\/ukraine\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Ukraine<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the situation along Ukraine\u2019s borders \u2014 and eventually, inside them \u2014 grew more dire, the Air Force rushed to find troops who could pass the Pentagon\u2019s Ukrainian language proficiency test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some with family ties to the country already spoke it, while others with an appetite for languages set out to learn. Airmen who study Russian could help out in a pinch as well, since the two share similar alphabets, grammar and vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department of the Air Force has the ability to track language capabilities in the military personnel systems and can quickly identify airmen\/guardians with the required language skills, to include Ukrainian,\u201d service spokesperson Laura McAndrews said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force \u201csurged to meet emerging requirements\u201d for Russian language analysts at the beginning of the conflict, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McAndrews declined to answer how many Ukrainian and Russian linguists are currently supporting U.S. and NATO operations related to the four-month-old war, citing operational security.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2022\/06\/23\/us-to-send-ukraine-rocket-systems-other-aid-in-new-package\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"179\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22151780796821.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US to send Ukraine rocket systems, other aid in new package<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The aid is part of the $40 billion in security and economic assistance passed last month by Congress.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon\u2019s Defense Language Institute trains service members in about a dozen languages, including French, Spanish, Indonesian, Farsi, Russian, Tagalog, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Pashto and four Arabic dialects. The most difficult courses can last more than a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those airmen tend to specialize in one of a few key tongues at a time \u2014 typically Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Arabic. But it\u2019s more complicated than knowing how to ask for a bathroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cryptologic language analysts, as they are formally known, intercept the messages and conversations of foreign troops and decision-makers so the U.S. is clued into their possible next steps. That comes in handy for tracking troop movements on the ground in real time as well as longer-term mission planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/05\/03\/as-a-veteran-that-went-to-ukraine-heres-what-i-saw\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22097658628487.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">As a veteran that went to Ukraine, here\u2019s what I saw<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Military Times reporter and Marine veteran Rachel Nostrant chronicles her time in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have our own slang and acronyms and things we talk about that are not conversational language,\u201d said Maj. Eric Armstrong, an RC-135 Rivet Joint pilot who now serves as deputy director of the base reconstruction effort at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, where airborne linguists are first stationed at the 97th Intelligence Squadron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey have to understand the mission\u2019s military language \u2026 so they can grasp, \u2018This type of person is probably talking to this type of person in this role about these things,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The intelligence gets routed through organizations like the National Security Agency and shared with countries that work with the U.S. That collaboration has helped Ukrainian troops kill multiple Russian generals and sink a key warship in the Black Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf it is a threat to our partners, we\u2019re able to tell them that threat,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cWe may not have to give them the whole \u2018who, what, why and where,\u2019 but we can tell them that, \u2018Hey, there\u2019s something dangerous and watch out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/ukraine\/2022\/05\/05\/pentagon-denies-us-intelligence-is-targeting-russian-generals-in-ukraine\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22125608502285.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon denies US intelligence is targeting Russian generals in Ukraine<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. does not provide locations of senior Russian military officials to partners in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Service members who are well-versed in other languages can also help train foreign forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, Air Force Capt. Jordan Garcia stepped in as an interpreter for Ukrainian students at the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School, a U.S. Navy program in Mississippi that trains foreign special operations troops in tactics and strategy, earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garcia, who speaks Ukrainian and Russian, was part of the Air Force\u2019s Language-Enabled Airman Program. The initiative offers online classes for active duty airmen and Space Force guardians to gain a working knowledge of a foreign language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was critical to hit the ground running, so there was not a lot of time to get spun up on the technical terminology related to the subjects,\u201d he said in a May 12 release. \u201cMy development through LEAP training and eMentor courses helped me be able to adapt and learn at the speed I needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garcia spent three weeks with the Ukrainians as they progressed through courses on patrol craft, diesel systems maintenance and international tactical communications. The students were in Mississippi when Russian forces invaded their home country on Feb. 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the Ukrainian students was originally working as an interpreter for the other students,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cAfter shadowing her for a day, I stepped in and did the interpreting for all of the Ukrainian students so she could focus on learning the material.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2022\/01\/27\/us-air-force-ramps-up-intel-flights-weapons-shipments-to-ukraine\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1000w_q95-1-2.jpg-2.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US Air Force ramps up intel flights, weapons shipments to Ukraine<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Flight trackers have spotted American Rivet Joint, Global Hawk, Reaper and Joint STARS aircraft, plus allied assets.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In many cases, getting someone up to speed to decipher military chatter in a foreign language \u2014 heard over a crackly headset, during a crisis, with little backup \u2014 requires squeezing what is typically an 18-month process into a matter of weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. military dealt with that time crunch firsthand while withdrawing from its two-decade war in Afghanistan last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of May 2021, the Air Force had just eight linguists who spoke Pashto, one of Afghanistan\u2019s two official languages that is spoken by about half of the population, said Armstrong, who helped manage the withdrawal as an operations director at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, before moving to Offutt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat was an absolute nightmare. Between [RC-135 Rivet Joints and EC-130H Compass Calls], we split them up the best we could,\u201d Armstrong told Air Force Times in April. \u201cWe brought some folks back who had already gone to other languages, but hadn\u2019t quite become unqualified yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That included two Chinese experts who had previously studied Pashto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrying to spin them up in order to safely get through the Afghanistan withdrawal was challenging,\u201d Armstrong said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/06\/15\/call-of-duty\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cc_three.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">This Compass Call squadron was deployed in Afghanistan for 20 years. Here\u2019s their inside story.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The EC-130H Compass Call worked behind the scenes for two decades in Afghanistan, from supporting the arrival of special forces, to the bin Laden raid and the Kabul evacuation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That grew from eight people to about 130 airmen who offered language support during the massive U.S.-led humanitarian evacuation and the domestic resettlement effort, McAndrews said. Those airmen acted as advocates for Afghan evacuees as they tried to piece together a path forward with the U.S. military, federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor Operation Allies Refuge\/Operation Allies Welcome, the linguist teams at the camps were a critical asset. With language and culture expertise, they were injected into every role at every step of the process without any formal training for this type of mission,\u201d McAndrews said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite a constant need for foreign language proficiency in its ranks, the Air Force hasn\u2019t found a way to avoid the last-minute scramble for multilingual airmen in an emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Part of the problem is that the service has to reserve spots at the Defense Language Institute five years in advance. The Army is in charge of training cryptologic language analysts there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to basically plan for the world\u2019s messes, crises, five years out \u2014 can\u2019t really do that. It\u2019s constantly a struggle,\u201d said Brown, who specializes in Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/05\/16\/truck-exhaust-it-woes-and-piles-of-rubble-offutt-faces-uphill-battle-to-rebuild\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1000w_q75-5-2.jpg-2.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Truck exhaust, IT woes and piles of rubble: Offutt faces uphill battle to rebuild<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Rebuilding Offutt is expected to take about 10 years and more than $1 billion.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He noted that the military has tried ways of quickly retasking its linguists as needed, but it hasn\u2019t gone well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey try to, as best as possible, keep everyone going and keep everyone relevant,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McAndrews said the Air Force has started a pilot program, dubbed \u201cLinguist Next,\u201d at the institute in an attempt to fast-track language expertise. The service hopes that more frequent proficiency tests will make that knowledge stick more quickly than in DLI\u2019s usual course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contractors also help retrain linguists who need to brush up on a new language, stat, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The military wants additional, more stable funding for its various foreign language education programs for a more stable bench of polyglots. For now, the Air Force is prioritizing languages that fall in line with the National Defense Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That document positions the United States in military competition with China and Russia, with a lesser emphasis on countering North Korea, Iran and violent insurgencies around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLanguage equities across the Air Force are in high demand and are a significant and costly resource to create and maintain,\u201d McAndrews said. \u201cThe Air Force works closely with the Department of Defense through a multitude of working groups to strike the right balance of capability to meet the needs of our nation and the service.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Air Force linguists scrambled to keep up through the Afghanistan withdrawal and, now, the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,29,116,15,135],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-65288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-ukraine"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GMSKI7V6AJBZNDFE2EVBYXZLD4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2022\/07\/01\/none-of-the-us-air-forces-linguists-spoke-ukrainian-then-russia-invaded\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>None of the US Air Force\u2019s linguists spoke Ukrainian. Then Russia invaded. - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Air Force linguists scrambled to keep up through the Afghanistan withdrawal and, now, the war in Ukraine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"None of the US Air Force\u2019s linguists spoke Ukrainian. Then Russia invaded.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Air Force linguists scrambled to keep up through the Afghanistan withdrawal and, now, the war in Ukraine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/07\/01\/none-of-the-us-air-forces-linguists-spoke-ukrainian-then-russia-invaded\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-01T20:58:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:19:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel S. Cohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel S. 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