By Natela Cutter

The first batch of Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Army students departed to their next duty station this weekend, after four weeks of waiting for the lifting of the Department of Defense directive that called for the stopping of troop movement to new installations because of COVID-19.

The first batch of DLIFLC Army students load onto a bus that will take them to their next duty station this weekend, after four weeks of waiting for the lifting of the Department of Defense directive that called for the stopping of troop movement to new installations because of COVID-19.

“DLI just completed its first sanitized shipment of 45 outbound service members in order to continue follow-on training. This is very exciting because we are able to get close to normal operations as possible within the constraints of COVID-19,” said Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Joseph Kuykendall.

Just last week, the first group of 49 Army service members arrived from Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, via sanitized transportation with a commercial jet that landed at Monterey Peninsula Airport. Another two groups of about 40 students each arrived from other locations Monday and Tuesday of last week, bringing the number of new students to more than 120.

As the Soldiers deboarded the flight, each group of incoming students was picked up by a team from DLIFLC with disinfected buses and vans to transport them back to the Presidio of Monterey.

“I felt safe on the flight. We all wore masks and we tried to social distance,” said Pvt. Tyler Tufflebean, who had been waiting to come to Monterey to study Russian since Jan. 27.

Like his peers, Tufflebean underwent a medical evaluation for any COVID-19 symptoms before leaving basic training. Due to these measures, and the sanitized transportation, there will be no need for additional isolation or quarantining of the new arrivals.

Currently, the same type of measures are being taken for outbound students, with robust pre-screening taking place by California Medical Detachment personnel on the Presidio.

“We are pursuing a conditions-based, phased recovery approach to resume normal operations at DLI,” explained Kuykendall. “This approach allows the command to assess … guidance from federal, state and local authorities to ensure we resume operations by making the safety of our personnel and local community our primary goal.”

But until the return to Presidio classrooms takes place, these new foreign language students will begin their lessons virtually as they wait for optimal conditions for the safe return of students and faculty to the Presidio of Monterey.

By Mission Public Affairs

The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center hosted a virtual Memorial Day ceremony to remember fallen military members on May 21, 2020. The event was posted to several different social media platforms to reach an audience that has largely been working from home under a shelter-in-place order since March 17.

Col. Gary Hausman, commandant of DLIFLC, speaks during the virtual Memorial Day ceremony held on May 21, 2020.

“This year, our observance is different from previous years while we help to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by social distancing and by conducting this event virtually,” said Col. Gary Hausman, commandant of DLIFLC. “Instead of parades or large memorial events, we can remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in a more private way.”

The event was pre-recorded at the cemetery on the Presidio of Monterey, along with Col. Gregory Ford, commander of POM, and guest speaker retired Col. Dino Pick, a former commandant of DLIFLC.

“Let us live lives worthy of their sacrifice, especially in these challenging times of a pandemic,” said Pick, speaking about the fallen. “We honor their memories through the grace of our actions towards each other, through the strength of our character and doing what is right. “

DLIFLC leadership, along with guest speaker and former commandant retired Dino Pick, salute during the virtual Memorial Day ceremony held on the Presidio of Monterey May 21, 2020.

The ceremony also memorialized Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy W. Griffin, a graduate of the Korean basic course in 2005, who was killed in action by small arms fire, September 16, 2019, while engaged in combat operations in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

“Memorial Day is a time to honor our commitment to never forget those who served and sacrificed for America,” said Hausman. “And today, we do that once again.”

To view the virtual Memorial Day ceremony, you can go to our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DLIFLC/videos/3859684964103373, our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/YPvvxYJRtCc or Vimeo channel: https://vimeo.com/420880999

By Tammy Cario

Under the best of circumstances, change is difficult. When it’s not the best circumstances, change is especially challenging, particularly when it comes in the lightning fast, world-upending way that was COVID-19, ushering in a new kind of normal in everyday life.

The students, faculty and staff at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center were no exception.

“At first it was really difficult,” said Mariah East (using an alias), a Coast Guard petty officer 3rd class studying Spanish at DLIFLC. “It was a huge learning curve for all of us. Our teaching team had to adjust everything and reconstruct the classes to be taught online.”

In days, face-to-face learning moved rapidly to sitting in front of a computer all day. Not only were the students challenged with social distancing in the barracks while studying in small rooms for the most part, instructors had the added challenge of keeping their students focused, engaged and interested in learning.

But during two months of the shelter-in-place order, a lot of growth opportunities for the students and faculty have taken place, says Lucia Artacho, lead instructor of East’s teaching team at the Spanish schoolhouse. Along with four other instructors on her team, Artacho has embraced the huge task of switching learning formats with energy and enthusiasm.

“As dire as the situation was that forced us into this virtual environment,” Artacho said, “we are grateful…that so much growth has come out of this for our team!”

East agreed, saying the team only took a week or two to hit their stride. “Now our classes go much smoother so that we’re able to cover everything we need to. And the coordination between the teaching team I think has been really great through all of this.”

Here, Artacho shares what she and her team have learned to keep their students engaged, motivated, and healthy physically and mentally while maintaining the shelter-in-place restrictions.

Communication, communication, communication

Artacho has her team – that is, instructors and students – check in every morning for a huddle. Any changes and updates are talked about, and they get feedback on the previous day’s new activities. And then they all have a meeting at the end of the class day.

Good communication isn’t just about meetings. It’s just as often talking through things that might be worrying the students.

“I think they’ve been doing a good job at helping us not freak out about what level we’re at and giving us realistic feedback about where we’re supposed to be in the course at this point,” said East, whose class hallway through the course at week 37.

Go off-screen

“Student’s brains get fried in front of the screen all day,” said Artacho. Her team has scheduled their day to have four hours of intense and focused learning in the morning. After that, two hours in the afternoon are used for other tasks, usually, as Artacho says, “something lighter and more engaging.” Some of the tasks are completed off screen.

Over in the Hebrew department, Yaniv Oded, the department chair, has started mandating no-screen speaking hours, at least one hour a day, where his students and teachers can sit outside while talking.

“Instead of having sit in from of the computers for six hours every day,” Oded explained, “we tell them to go outside and call in the online meeting rooms so that they do not burn their eyes in front of their computers all day long.”

Plenty of one-on-one time

Cynthia Cea Aguilar, Spanish instructor at DLIFLC, proudly shows off a few of her students after a day spent on a virtual immersion in Mexico.

Each teacher on Artacho’s team is responsible to counsel five or six students on their team. They have reserved the hours of the afternoon to decide how they can better help each student one-on one.

“Some of them need oral practice, some of them review grammar one-on-one,” she said, “while some of them just need a friendly ear to share their personal worries with.”

Humans First

“Our whole team’s philosophy is that the human in all of us needs to be taken care of before we can teach or learn anything,” Artacho said. They have been talking about purpose, motivation, and mindset a lot, she added, and have been integrating it in their activities.

One of the things they’ve added to their daily routine is a student-led workout held in Spanish. East has led several so far.

“The first time I was terrible,” she laughed. By the time she led her fourth, East didn’t hesitate over the Spanish words or what stretches to do.

In the Korean schoolhouse, lead instructor Soyoung Jeong learned a lesson from staying home to raise her children for several years between her time as an instructor at DLIFLC.

“When mom isn’t happy, the kids aren’t happy,” she said. That means she works hard to make sure her teachers are taken care of and are getting their needs met.

At the Hebrew schoolhouse, Oded has a similar philosophy about his instructors. “We are working on fun staff initiatives,” he said, naming a few things that included a teacher video song.

Autonomy

Artacho says she and her team give the students the ability to decide for themselves whenever possible.

For instance, she says, “material for a scheduled activity can be worked in different ways and they get to choose which one and commit to their decisions by sharing them with the group.” The student leaders are given a level of autonomy as well, deciding how the class wants to handle things like class divisions or how a task is accomplished.

Jeong works to bring that level of autonomy to her students as well, making the classes as student directed as possible. That was how they came up with the idea to let the students make their own videos, like Youtubers.

Have fun!

Soyoung Jeong, Korean instructor at DLIFLC, makes Chapaguri in a video she created as a way to engage her students.

Jeong and her team worked with their students to create YouTube-like videos in Korean.

It came about when they wanted to celebrate what was supposed to be Language Day, DLIFLC’s annual open house, by watching a movie.

“But we wanted to make it more fun, just to have fun,” she said.

Someone suggested making a YouTube video like Unboxing, and the idea took off. Each student made their own videos in Korean, with Jeong joining in the fun with her own creation on how to make Chapaguri (Ram-Don) from the movie “Parasite.”

“Actually, it was a really good way to deliver language in an engaging way,” Jeong said. “It was really good practice (for the) OPI test as well,” she said, speaking about the Oral Proficiency Interview that is the final oral exam for students.

Artacho’s team took a more technological approach. It all started when Cynthia Cea Aguilar, an instructor on Artacho’s team, asked her students how much time they spend on the internet.

“Half of my class spends more than two hours on video games. A day,” Aguilar repeated. After talking it over, the team, with Aguilar as the lead, decided to harness that by putting together an app that took the students to Mexico on a virtual immersion trip.

Starting at the Monterey airport, the students traveled virtually to Mexico and eventually to Zocalo, while the instructors roll played as the doctor checking for COVID-19 symptoms, the merchant selling cell phone plans at the airport, or played the confused tourist whom the students had to help.

“We connected with our students on a different level,” said Aguilar, happy after a day spent on the virtual immersion. “We learned, we laughed, we danced and we thrived together.”

The most important thing, Jeong said, is that the instructors are able to “reach” their students. “The teachers in my team have been trying really hard to find a better, more practical, innovative way to improve student language proficiency in this virtual class setting,” she said. “We wanted to show that online class is as effective as, or even better, than class in the school house.”

For Artacho, having her students engaged, motivated, and physically and mentally healthy, is a rush. “Just seeing them willing to be playful in Spanish, regardless of their level, is an absolute success in my heart.”

By Tammy Cario

Marine Sgt. Christopher Ellis stands at attention along with the rest of the Marine Corps Detachment at DLIFLC while his Commendation Medal is read during a ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey May 28, 2020. (Official DOD photo by Zach Frank)

A Marine with the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center was awarded for his heroic actions Thursday in a ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey May 28, 2020.

The Marine Corps Detachment awarded Sgt. Christopher C. Ellis with the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, an award reserved for a service member who distinguishes themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, for his life-saving actions in 2019.

“This is an awesome occasion in the midst of these unprecedented times to recognize the heroic actions of a Marine,” said Lt. Col. Jason Schermerhorn, commanding officer of MCD, during the ceremony

In January of 2019, Ellis was on his way to his language training at DLIFLC when he noticed a two-vehicle accident on the side of the road and stopped to check on those involved.

Vilma Perez (left) of Monterey stands with the Marine who saved her life, Sgt. Christopher Ellis and his wife, Carissa Ellis. Perez said she doesn’t remember the crash or the rescue, but she remembers waking up in the hospital to see Carissa Ellis visiting her with flowers in hand. (Official DOD photo by Zach Frank)

After assessing the vehicles, he found a woman, Vilma Perez, of Monterey, unconscious in the driver’s seat of a crushed car that was billowing smoke. Ellis, along with the help of another fellow Good Samaritan, broke window and pulled Perez to safety.

In explaining what he was thinking at the time, Ellis said, “I just knew decisions needed to be made and things needed to be done” as a capable young person on the scene.

Ellis and the Good Samaritan were able to get the unconscious Perez across to the other side of the road when the car became engulfed in flames.

“The actions he took showed exactly the Corps values, especially courage,” Schermerhorn told the Marines. “He didn’t just stand there, he took action.”

By Tammy Cario

It all started a month ago when instructor Lucia Artacho and her team were brainstorming ways to engage their students in the Spanish classes that are now being taught online.

“Our main challenge during this COVID experience has been keeping our students engaged, motivated, and healthy, physically and mentally,” said Artacho. She asked her team of four instructors if a virtual trip to a Spanish-speaking country was possible.

“I said yes without knowing where to begin,” laughed Cynthia Cea Aguilar, one of the Spanish instructors on Artacho’s team at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, who is working from home.

The next day, while covering technology topics in Spanish, Aguilar’s decided to ask her students about video games.

Cynthia Cea Aguilar, Spanish instructor at DLIFLC, proudly shows off a few of her students after a day spent on a virtual immersion in Mexico.

“Half of my class spends more than two hours on video games – a day,” Aguilar said. That was when it hit her – they could do a virtual immersion using an educational app.

Why an app?

The majority of the population in the U.S. has had a handheld video game in their lives since childhood. Although the first video game arrived on the scene in 1958, according to the Brookhaven National Laboratory, it wasn’t until 1976 that the first handheld device came out. Surprisingly, a survey done by Entertainment Software Association found that the majority of adult gamers use smartphones to play video games rather than a personal computer or a dedicated console. Which, if you think about it, makes sense. According to the Pew Research Center, 96% of Americans have cells phones, 81% of them being smartphones. Smartphone games are ubiquitous.

Despite growing up in a fairly tech savvy family, I am not what you would call a video game aficionado. I grew up content watching my siblings and cousins play video games, happy with games references sailing over my head. Fortunately, technology has not completely passed me by; I can usually fumble my way around smartphone apps and the occasional remote control.

An added wrinkle to Aguilar’s game, however, is that this virtual experience, designed by the instructors using a free online app, would truly be an immersion – done entirely in Spanish.

Fortunately, I had my co-worker, Leo Carrillo, who is bilingual with me on the other side of the video chat using the app, too. And I had a few hints from Aguilar about how to play the game.

“You’ll start at the Monterey Airport and fly to Mexico City,” she said. She explained that the game is all about triggers. It will ask you a question and you have to choose an answer. It’s similar to a role-playing game, or RPG, where your character goes on a journey through a series of structured decisions you have to make.

When she was brainstorming how to give the students an immersive experience, Aguilar researched different apps before she found one that was free for educational purposes, already built. All that was needed to build the game within the app was a little technological know-how. Well, and determination, something Aguilar has in spades.

“For the first four days, I was just stuck,” she said of her work on the app. “But I have taken some classes before, so I’m not scared of technology. And then I just kept pushing and pushing.” It wasn’t long before she got the hang of what she called, “the flow,” where she made the connections and everything clicked.

Three weeks and a lot of hard work later, I held my phone in my hand, waiting for Lucia Artacho’s teaching team to give the word that the virtual immersion tour to Mexico would begin. A trip I could take using only an app on my phone.

Gaming

A screenshot of a plane taking off from the Monterey Regional Airport as part of a virtual immersion tour that Cynthia Cea Aguilar and her team put together in an effort to engage their students while learning online.

The app started me off at my location, like I’m in Google Maps. I scrolled around to find the Monterey Regional Airport and clicked on the icon. The screen took me to the inside of the airport and a flight attendant told me what I could and could not bring on the flight. There was a small quiz asking me what she said – I guessed – and from there the airplane took off, with another in-flight quiz.

Even though I couldn’t understand the language, there was a certain kind of glee in being able to answer the quizzes, along with a sense of accomplishment when I moved on to the next decision. If this is the future of language learning, sign me up!

We arrived at the Mexico City International Airport, or rather, we had to scroll down the map to find Mexico City, where an airplane icon waited for us. Once we arrived, there were a series of things we would have to do in order to leave.

A screenshot of the video game map centered of the Mexico City International Airport, where several stops within the airport had to be completed before we could move on.

“It’s everything you would do in an airport,” said Aguilar. Among other things, you have to exchange money, take transportation and go through a COVID-19 screening. Essentially, all the things you would normally have to do if you flew into an airport in a foreign country. And, in the theme of a game, each stop would net you a certain amount of money to spend.

Each icon was an opportunity for the students to practice different parts of their Spanish. For instance, the COVID-19 stop, where Artacho pretended to be a doctor on the video chat, had the students interacting with their lead instructor about their symptoms and previous travel.

Another icon on the airport map was a cell phone store. The instructions in the app sent us to a virtual video chat room where Luis Ortega, one of the Spanish teachers, played a salesman. After going through the phone plans in Spanish, he told us, “This is all authentic material,” meaning they had to go do research about cell phone stores in the Mexico City airport. And that was just one of over 50 stops Aguilar had programmed into the game.

Back to the app, Carrillo and I chose phone plans using the money we had earned along the way and it triggered the end of that stop. On to the next until all the stops at the airport had been completed.

Once the students finished with the airport, which took most of the morning, they moved on to Zocalo, a charming city where they had many other icons to visit. They learned history and culture, as well as interacting with civilians and other tourists (the instructors doing more role playing). It was a way for the students to expand their vocabulary in real situations, or as real as it could be in a virtual world.

More than that, it was engaging.

The students gave their feedback at the end of the day, a crowd of enthusiastic laughs and retelling of their experiences.

For Aguilar, it was euphoric. “I am so overwhelmed with the great response of our students,” she said. “Today we connected with our students on a different level; we learned, we laughed, we danced and we thrived together.”

In Artacho’s words, it was summed up this way, “Just seeing them willing to be playful IN SPANISH, regardless of their level, is in my heart an absolute success.”

By Natela Cutter

The Marine Corps Detachment at the Presidio of Monterey carried out a change of command June 12, in which Lt. Col. Jason Schermerhorn relinquished command to Lt. Col. Timothy Mayer, who will be taking charge of Marines who are studying a foreign language at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center.

Using social distancing, some 300 Marines in formation with masks donned stood on Soldier Field during the ceremony, reminding participants and guests that the era of the COVID-19 pandemic has not subsided.

“Thank you for being here today! For some of us, today’s ceremony is the first large event we’ve attended since COVID-19 became a real threat,” said outgoing commander Schermerhorn.

Due to the pandemic, the presiding officer, Col. Derek Lane, commanding officer of the Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School headquartered in Twentynine Palms, California was not able to attend, but sent a letter.

“Your ability to also command, control, and take care of the Marines not only at DLI, but also at the Naval Post Graduate School, highlights your ability to lead an expansive, diverse command while ensuring mission accomplishment in every regard,” said Lane, in the letter ready by Sgt. Ryan McGuinness.

Schermerhorn assumed command of the Marine Corps Detachment, Monterey, in June of 2018, when he said he was not aware of how large the mission was at DLIFLC. While thanking his own Marines and academic leadership for their hard work, Schermerhorn singled out DLIFLC Army leadership.

“I thank all of you for your commitment to the mission and all the service members,” said Schermerhorn. “One thing that really sticks with me is that Col. [Gary] Hausman and Command Sgt. Maj. [Thomas] Donehue really look at our Marines as if they are their responsibility as much as a Soldier in the 229th [Military Intelligence Battalion],” he said.

“I am very fortunate to follow Lt. Col. Schermerhorn’s leadership and the positive forward momentum that this command has been taking,” said incoming commander Mayer, who served with Schermerhorn before.

“But for the Marines out there, we’ve got a lot of responsibilities and work to complete,” he said, adding that “There are challenging times ahead for our nation…and your role to our national defense is crucial.”

Mayer came to DLIFLC from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, North Carolina, where he served as a senior ground intelligence officer. Mayer has most recently supported civilian authorities’ operations in Puerto Rico and worked as a part of an Africa crisis response team while stationed in Moron, Spain. His experience with deployment and tactical employment of ground reconnaissance units allows him a unique understanding of the Marine linguist.

Due to his successful leadership of Marines, Navy Officers attending the neighboring Naval Postgraduate School and two units at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Schermerhorn was selected to attend the Joint Advanced Warfighting School in Norfolk, Virginia where he will complete a years-long, rigorous study to become an expert joint campaign planning.

*** You can see the recording of the entire event on our YouTube page: https://youtu.be/dViGRZRHFns?t=3010

By Natela Cutter

Col. Stephanie Kelley, DLIFLC assistant commandant, Lt. Col. Jaclyn Deroush, former commander of the 314th Training Squadron, and Lt. Col. Joseph Ladymon, current commander of the 314th TS, stand at attention during a change of command ceremony held at the Presidio of Monterey June 17, 2020. (Photo by Natela Cutter)

Lt. Col. Jaclyn Deroush relinquished command of the 314th Training Squadron to Lt. Col. Joseph Ladymon during a change of command ceremony atop Munakata Hall at the Presidio of Monterey, California, June 17.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was carried out with precaution and the implementation of social distancing measures. Certain segments of the event were prerecorded to prevent direct contact, and to enable staff, students and family members to watch the ceremony live online.

“Jayce is as tough as nails, don’t be fooled by her small stature,” said Defense language Institute Foreign Language Center Assistant commandant Col. Stephanie Kelley, who is also commander of the 517th Training Group. Kelley commended Deroush for her outstanding service as commander of more than 700 airmen who are studying a foreign language at one of the toughest schools in the military.

Among Deroush’s accomplishments was the support she provided for the writing and updating of the Persian Farsi curriculum by providing professional airmen linguists from the field to help as subject matter experts. Deroush’s squadron was recognized as the squadron of the year for 2019 with an increase in graduation proficiency rates: 76 distinguished graduates, 33 academic awards and 107 Associate of Arts degrees in foreign language.

Deroush received the Meritorious Service Medal, first oak leaf cluster from DLIFLC’s assistant commandant.

In her final remarks to the squadron, Deroush thanked her airmen and said, “You have empowered me as I watched you grow and I am excited to see where you will go…you have risen to every challenge,” she said, adding, “Together we are stronger and thank you for doing great things.”

Officially taking command of the 314th Training Squadron, Ladymon thanked organizers of the event and said he will have “ginormous shoes to fill,” adding that celebratory events will have to wait for a post COVID-19 time.

Deroush will be going to training before being assigned as assistant air attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia. Though not a DLIFLC graduate, Deroush studied Russian and German in college.

The 314th and 311th Training Squadrons are part of the U.S. Air Force 517th Training Group, which develops and instills Air Force values in airmen while they train to become linguists at DLIFLC.

By Tammy Cario

In a recent town hall with Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center students that was sprinkled with survey questions about studies and stress, Col. Gary Hausman, DLIFLC commandant, asked them to respond to an unusual question: how much sleep did each student get on a school night?

Col. Gary Hausman, commandant of DLIFLC, asks this question during an interactive virtual town hall for DLIFLC students held June 16, 2020.

Over two thirds of the students who responded said they received six or less hours of sleep per night. This means less than a third of the students at DLIFLC are getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep.

Lack of sleep is a detriment because, according to sleep expert Dr. Nita Shattuck, adequate sleep is crucial for learning. DLIFLC students spend at least seven hours per day in class and have about two to three hours of homework each night. On top of this, they have military duties.

Shattuck, a professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School with 30 years of experience studying sleep, spoke to DLIFLC students in a virtual meeting last month, with Hausman listening in. During her talk, Shattuck explained a study she and her team did with the Navy Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Michigan. The recruits were getting roughly six hours of sleep per night. With a simple shift from six hours to eight hours a night, Shattuck’s team collected and compared the before and after test results to see if getting more sleep had affected their training.

“What we see on standardized tests is highly significant differences when they are getting eight hours of sleep,” she said. “It’s as if we gave these people an infusion of IQ. [To] make them smarter, give them more sleep.”

Just how much good can sleep do for you? A lot, according to Shattuck.

Better sleep is linked to:

• Improvements in memory
• Alertness and concentration
• Productivity and performance
• Endurance
• Ability to tolerate frustration
• Happiness and optimism
• Reduction of risk of injuries

Just as telling is how sleep deprivation can harm you.

• It reduces your ability to control your impulses
• Makes it challenging to interpret other people’s emotions, interact effectively and maintain good relationships
• It also harder to pay attention or remember new information
• There is an increased risk of motor accidents
• It is associated with psychiatric conditions such as depression, suicidal ideation and substance abuse

Another way sleep deprivation can affect you is an imbalance of the hormone ghrelin and leptin. When these hormones get disrupted, she said, “you crave carbs and you don’t have any brakes” to know when to stop consuming food. This can lead to weight gain and obesity.

More important to the students at DLIFLC, proper sleep means better learning.

“Sleep affects molecular, cellular and network mechanisms that govern memory systems,” Shattuck said, “The sleeping brain is optimized for memory consolidation but sleeping for just a few hours is not enough to retain all new information.”

Obviously, sleep is not the only answer to learning. But it’s a matter of prioritizing what is important.

For Dr. Jonathan Gajdos, dean of the Persian Farsi school, bringing Shattuck in to speak with his students started when one of the students fell asleep in their barracks while taking a test remotely. Shattuck had spoken during a DLIFLC event last year and she came to mind, he said, when this issue came to his attention.

“Sleep is an issue our students struggle with due to the demands of balancing their military and academic obligations,” Gajdos said. He went on to explain that with all of the recent upheaval, “the remote environment, schedule disruptions, screen time and restrictions on activities, sleep issues can be an impediment to academic success.”

DLIFLC leadership is raising awareness and encouraging their students to get enough sleep because, as Shattuck explained, “improved test scores, better retention of knowledge, fewer sick calls, decrease in discipline problems and in depression, improved morale and lower attrition rates,” were predicted when students increased their slumber.

So where does that leave someone who is chronically deprived of sleep? Shattuck has some suggestions.

Make a sleep plan

You need to set a bedtime early enough to get at least seven hours of sleep. “Protect your circadian rhythm by going to bed at the same time each day,” Shattuck advised. “Exercise sleep discipline.”

Preparation starts in the daytime?

Limit caffeine and energy drinks to the first half of your day. Avoid alcohol and heavy foods before bedtime.

Ideal sleep conditions

Shattuck advises complete darkness – not even a pinhole of light – and quiet, as well as cool ambient temperature. Also, interestingly enough, she has a suggestion to eliminate offending sources of odors.

Dr. Nita Shattuck presents her slides on the benefits of sleep during a virtual talk with a group of DLIFLC students held May 20, 2020.

One last note from Dr. Shattuck. In today’s very real threat of viral infections, with sleep and immunity inextricably linked, she explained that the risk of getting sick goes up significantly if you don’t get adequate sleep.

“One of the most important things you can do if you’re trying to avoid getting ill and contracting any virus, including COVID-19, is get sleep.”

By Natela Cutter

Despite the global pandemic, a team from the San Jose office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services traveled to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey to naturalize 18 individuals on June 25.

Dody Ghassan Mounjed proudly poses with DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman after the ceremony. (Photo by Natela Cutter)

“I am proud to announce that DLI and POM [Presidio of Monterey] have 18 new citizens. It is always inspiring to see [individuals] achieve their goal and become U.S. citizens,” said DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman.

The group of naturalized individuals consisted of instructors, their family members, and several POM employees. The process normally includes interviews with prospective U.S. citizens earlier in the day. Once the interviews are completed successfully, USCIS representatives are able to prepare certificates for those to be naturalized in the afternoon ceremony.

“I am so excited to be an official citizen of the United States,” said Dody Ghassan Mounjed, a son of one of the instructors and a 7th grader at Monte Vista Christian School. Mounjed was chosen to lead the newly naturalized group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Immaduaddin Burhani recites the Pledge of Allegiance at the ceremony.

“We say the Pledge of Allegiance every day at school, but I am so nervous,” said Mounjed, prior to the ceremony. “I have practiced for two weeks every day,” he explained, as his mother looked on proudly. Munjed came to the U.S. when he just a baby from Beirut, Lebanon, with his parents.

Sitting next to each other, socially distanced by six feet and wearing masks, Immaduaddin Burhani was equally excited. “I love the U.S. because it allows everyone to achieve their dreams without any limitation.”

One dream has already come true for the Burhani family, originally from Afghanistan. They recently became new home owners in Seaside, California.

“It’s awesome! We just bought a house and I built a deck from watching YouTube,” said the 20-year-old, who lives with his parents and is finishing up his prerequisites at Monterey Peninsula College. “Home Depot is the best place ever,” said Burhani, who is planning to attend the University of California Berkeley to become a network engineer.

With COVID-19 all-pervasive, the normally well attended ceremony with much fanfare and a cake with the American flag had to be omitted this year. Regardless, the new U.S. citizens could not be more excited as they enthusiastically posed for photos with their naturalization certificates.

USCIS offices were closed in March as part of the effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, suspending in-person services. They began reopening their offices in early June. For more information visit: www.uscis.gov/

By Tammy Cario

Never has the value of technology been so evident as in the time of a worldwide pandemic, when, for some, being able to telework from their own homes is the difference between life and death. For the faculty and staff at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, the speed of the switch, from face-to-face to online training only happened over the course of one week.

“It was like an airplane taking flight,” said Golnaz Monazamfar. “We were putting pieces together as we were midair.”

(Photo courtesy Pexels)

Monazamfar is the lead for Education, Training and Development’s Micrososft 365 team, a group of DLIFLC staff that was brought together March 18, the first day the Institute began to shelter in place. Essentially, they provide online training that teaches the teachers. “We just had to jump on it and provide training to all faculty and staff and get them ready” to teach online rather than in the traditional classroom setting.

It was no easy task. To begin with, the timeline to learn the online platform was quick. One week the instructors were doing practice runs with the students and the next they were working from home.

Aymen Alqasem, a lead instructor at the Arabic language schoolhouse and someone who considers himself fairly tech savvy, said he and his fellow teachers were excited to work from home. “We are thinking this was going to be easy. No commute, that’s wonderful! We were looking forward to it actually.”

One week in, however, he and his team discovered there was an adjustment period.

“It was hard, especially with communication,” Alqasem said.

It was ETD’s job in the beginning to help the instructors not only learn how to teach better but how to use the online communication format with each other. They started teaching staff the basics and it took off, taking them from a seven-person team to 22.

“The questions kept coming,” said Monazamfar, “Now we’re kind of in everything.” Over the course of five months, they went from addressing pedagogical issues  to coaching, teaching and providing technical support. “So, we wear many hats,” she said.

Hong Kim, a lead instructor at the Korean language schoolhouse, and his team use different software applications, depending on the class, he says, “because each team has their own unique culture and characters and colors.” He utilizes EDT’s videos based on what application the instructor is using.

(Photo courtesy Pexels)

Every instructor has their own method of teaching and working online is no different. Which is why the EDT team put together a monthly meeting where instructors share their best practices. The discussions range from using video as a teaching tool to how to raise reading comprehension.

“I like to get teachers feedback,” said Kim, because he feels it saves his team time “based on what other teachers have gone through.”

Screen fatigue is a topic that comes up often. Alqasem, who also likes ETD’s instructional sessions on best practices, believes balance is important. He uses something he calls Operation Autonomous Learner – time in the afternoon for the student to get away from the screen. “We give students autonomous reading. They read the article on their own,” he said. “We encourage them not to read the PDF version. Read your books and use paper dictionaries.”

Kim has a similar philosophy for his students, who are at the halfway point of their classes. “If you run too fast, you will run out,” he said. “I ask them to go and hang out with a friend or even just go to the beach and walk around.”

Joemer Ta-Ala, assistant provost with ETD, has heard repeatedly that the question is not if DLIFLC staff, faculty and students will going back to work at the Presidio of Monterey, but when. For Ta-Ala, that doesn’t mean his team will fade into obsoletion. It will be what he describes as a “happy marriage between content and technology.”

“If there’s anything I learned from this unfortunate event that is COVID,” he said, “it’s that it is possible to blend fun and content…and make this our new normal. That’s the vision ETD has.”

By Natela Cutter, Mission Public Affairs

Every year, the Advanced Command Language Program workshop is held at the Presidio of Monterey, home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. But rather than cancel the event due to the pandemic, more than 230 Command Language Program Managers and other language professionals from the all over the world attended the event virtually Aug. 25-27.

“I never thought I would have to organize a traditionally in-person workshop into an online event. I am amazed that it worked out well for everyone, the participants and guest speakers,” said Frank Everson, the DLIFLC lead for the CLPM office and emcee of the event.

The purpose of the ACLPM is to assist and inform language program managers in interpreting new doctrine, identifying innovative developments in managing foreign language professionals and discussing new language learning resources offered to service members in order for them to maintain and enhance their foreign language skills.

The highlight of the event is the announcement of the results of a Department of Defense competition for the best Command Language Program and best Language Professional of the year. “Each service submits their nominee to compete for the DOD CLPoY and their nominee to compete for DOD LPoY. Then, a joint-service E-9 selection panel selects the winners,” explained Everson.

Every year, the Advanced Command Language Program workshop is held at the Presidio of Monterey, home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. But rather than cancel the event due to the pandemic, more than 230 Command Language Program Managers and other language professionals from the all over the world attended the event virtually Aug. 25-27.

This year, the 2019 awards were announced by Everson online. “I am proud to announce that the 706th Military Intelligence Group from Fort Gordon, Georgia, has won the DOD 2019 Command Language Program of the Year,” he said, while virtual clapping could be heard in the background.

Competing against this year’s winner were 3rd Radio Battalion, Kaneohe Bay, Hawai’i (3dRadBn), the U.S. Navy Information Operations Command, Bahrain, and the 316th Training Squadron, San Angelo, Texas.

The DOD Language Professional of the Year award was received by Cryptologic Technician Interpretive 1 David Dillon from the Center for Information Warfare Training Detachment, Fort Gordon, Georgia. Though many elements of service are considered for the individual award, Dillon particularly stood out for his high scores in Modern Standard Arabic; Reading 3 and Listening 3+. Dillon also speaks a variety of dialects at that level to include Iraqi, Syrain, Sudanese and Saudi, while he maintains a 2+/3 in Yemeni and Egyptian.

Those considered for the prestigious award were Army Staff Sgt. Michael Vander Vegt, 513th Military Intelligence Brigade, Fort Gordon, Georgia; Marine Corps Cpl. Jaesong Kim, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan; and Tech. Sgt. Cody Cardinal of the 316th Training Squadron at Goodfellow Air Force Base, San Angelo, Texas.

“We all know that linguists are doing amazing things day in and day out. They are empowered, embedded, and invested. With the support of their unit’s command emphasis, they bring a language-enabled lethality to the fight,” said DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman, congratulating the winners.

While some technical difficulties did occur in the beginning of the workshop, most of the participants did not appear to be distracted by it. “Technical glitches are commonplace and I do not think they were troublesome for most of us. It happens,” said Elaine Weiner-Reed, the deputy senior language authority for U.S. Cyber Command. “For me personally, the workshop held the right balance of strategic and tactical views and perspective. This workshop charted the course for moving forward, and I like where it is going.”

Most importantly, those new to the CLPM job were able to learn about the ins and outs of their responsibilities in managing linguists across the force. “I appreciate you and your team putting this amazing workshop together for us! It’s one of the best online workshops I have attended,” said Staff Sgt. Yongqin Li, from the 338th Combat Training Squadron at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.

DOD policy states that units which are assigned linguists must establish a command language program and units that have a CLP must have a certified CLPM. The ACLPM workshop provides an opportunity for CLPMs to not only build their networks but also to hear firsthand from key leaders across the DOD about the importance of the CLPM role in boosting mission readiness. The program has received increased attention across the DOD since the passing of the most recent National Defense Authorization Act that directed commanders at all levels to tie language to mission readiness in all DOD readiness reporting systems

By Mission Public Affairs

Members of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s Board of Visitors were briefed by DLIFLC leadership about the events that precipitated the current telework environment and other pressing issues during a virtual meeting convened Aug. 26 and 27.

“We were pleased to host the Board of Visitors,” said Detlev Kesten, the Alternate Designated Federal Official for the BoV at DLIFLC. “This gave us the opportunity to talk and answer questions about what we’ve been able to accomplish as an institution over the past several months.”

DLIFLC is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The core purpose of being accredited is to assure the public that institutions are meeting specific standards and that institutions are achieving their stated educational missions.

“It is the ultimate in comprehensive, institutional-level quality assurance,” said Dr. Robert Savukinas, DLIFLC provost.

Part of maintaining that accreditation is to have a BoV meeting at least once a year to give recommendations about the Institution. The BoV is comprised of distinguished individuals from academic, business, former military, and other professional fields, explained Kesten.

During BoV meetings, the Board listens to different subject matter experts on topics that the commandant of the Institute believes are pertinent. The BoV then writes up recommendations based on the information they learned and apply their own expertise to the final document produced.

The BoV provides DLIFLC leadership with recommendations on matters related to, among other things, the Institute’s mission, academic policies, and staff and faculty development.

By Tammy Cario, Mission Public Affairs

Less than six months into a global pandemic that saw entire nations come to a complete halt, social unrest sparked when George Perry Floyd Jr. was killed during a police arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. What followed was a wave of protests so strong, it echoed around the world. People from all walks of life across the United States, with international support, gathered to stand against racism and violence against their African American communities.

For Army Maj. Teisha Barnes, a student at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, it was a particularly trying time.

“Not everyone understands how we have to compartmentalize our life,” explained Barnes, who is African American and a student at DLIFLC on the Presidio. “Because even though black lives matter, and I’m seeing someone who looks just like me or my brother dying on TV, I still have to get up and go to class and act like nothing is happening.”

In the days that followed, tensions in the U.S. were at an all-time high with people of all races and ethnicities demonstrating in unprecedented numbers. The presence of coronavirus seemingly took second place to fighting for justice.

In response, Col. Gary Hausman, commandant of DLIFLC, held a virtual town hall June 4, and invited anyone who wanted to have an open and honest discussion about racism and discrimination and what recent events had brought up.

“(It) is an important topic right now given what’s going on around the United States,” Hausman said in the town hall. “I’m not going to pretend that I know what it’s like to be discriminated against. I recognize that I am a white man who potentially can have an advantage that others do not. So…I want to have a conversation because I want to listen and I want to learn and I want all of you to come into this and be able to achieve the same because we can all learn from each other.”

What came out during the candid discussion was eye-opening for some who had never faced this type of negative attention.

One service member talked about discrimination while at the store. Another spoke of young friends she hadn’t been allowed to play with because of the color of her skin.

After the students broke up into smaller groups to talk, another service member, Barnes said, told of how he has to be careful when he is out exercising.

“He said when he’s running and he sees someone of a different race, he’s like, ‘Oh hey, how you doing?’ Like you have to be extra friendly because you don’t want anyone to think otherwise. That’s a lot. That’s so draining.”

And, as Barnes explained, there are other problems that people might not see. When moving to a new assignment, her teenage son normally flies to their duty station. Barnes, on the other hand, drives their car and has to carefully plan routes to get to her destination while making sure to go through certain areas before dark and to gas up in a city area.

“There are certain towns where you can and cannot drive as a black person,” she said, “There are places that still have signs that say, ‘No Coloreds After Dark.’ And you sometimes have to go through those places…to get to your next duty station.”

More telling, however, might be the talk she was given by her parents, and advice that she has now passed on to her son as he learned to drive. “He has a whole speech memorized if he’s leaving the house so that I can guarantee he comes home,” if he gets pulled over, she explained.

“It’s scary because at what point does my son go from adorable to a threat?”, she asked. “At what point do people become afraid of him?”

While the Army now actively works against discrimination, it wasn’t always that way. It took nearly two decades before a presidential mandate made in 1948 was put into action across all the branches, stating that all units had to be free from discrimination irrespective of their color.

What has since followed is a sincere effort by policy makers and service members alike to put this mandate into everyday life. It hasn’t always been successful, but people like DLIFLC Assistant Commandant Air Force Col. Stephanie Kelley and her staff work to keep a vigilant eye on equality in the military. In large part because of the protests, she, along with her staff, felt spurred into action: producing a study called The Equity Project.

The Equity Project will comb through the Institute’s administrative actions records and look at disenrollments in the past five years to see if any race has been punished more harshly than another. For instance, if 15% of the student population is African American and 35% of the administrative actions are against African Americans, it would be flagged that there is an issue.

“One of the reasons I wanted to do this study is that it’s upsetting,” said Kelley. “I mean, it’s 2020. I thought we were done, that we were in a new age, a new era. That we are enlightened.”

Another impetus for the study was the reality of discrimination in today’s military. A study done in 2018 found there was significant racial discrimination in military justice across all the branches. Summed up, Kelley said, “if you’re a black service member, you’re more likely to have some sort of non-judicial punishment or some sort of corrective action taken against you.”

The problem today, Kelley said, is that people may be unaware of their innate preference. “The issue with unconscious bias is that no one is doing it on purpose.” The hope with this study, she added, is if they find anything, it will bring that bias to light and people will become more aware of their actions.

As for Barnes, she is looking at the situation with hope and determination.

“I think some people are getting the picture,” she said, in expressing her gratitude to Hausman for holding that difficult discussion with the students. “I’m feeling like there’s more people now who are willing to listen.”

In the meantime, Barnes tells her African American friends the same thing her parents told her – it’s all about hard work. “You have to prove yourself,” she said. “So, you make it work or you give up.” For Barnes, giving up isn’t an option, a trait that has taken her far in her military career and in life.

By Natela Cutter, Mission Public Affairs

One would think that students in general hate taking tests. Not so at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center where well over 2,500 students are currently engaged in online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Students were actually freaking out because they were not sure how they were doing in the course,” said Chief Military Language Instructor Sgt. 1st Class Rebecca Babcock, about the service members learning Persian Farsi. “We obviously turned to online instruction very quickly, but we did not have a method for testing students from afar,” Babcock explained.

While both instructors and students rose to the challenge of transitioning to a virtual classroom by using commercial software that allows for online collaboration through meetings, chat and document sharing, unit testing outside the schoolhouse walls remained an issue. “We quickly tested several different systems to see what would work,” explained Babcock.

The technical solutions team faced a daunting challenge. How does one find a tool that supports more than 10 different language scripts and provides listening, transcription, text selection and ordering features? The system also needed to support more than 200 students simultaneously taking a test with real-time interactivity – and be secure.

An unlikely candidate rose to the surface – the Universal Curriculum and Assessment Tool, called UCAT, initially designed as an in-house curriculum development support tool around 2010.

As the product gained popularity, by 2016 it became evident that the lack of assessment was a major gap. Two years later, the testing feature was added and operationalized but was not broadly used.

“We looked at different systems to see what would work to meet our needs, but commercial options would not handle many of the foreign language scripts or DLIFLC’s listening assessment requirements,” explained Babcock, a lead member of the technical solution recommendation team.

“I made the decision to go with UCAT because we needed a tool that could build assessments quickly, be extremely agile, offer adequate security, adequately assess a student’s performance, and be cost effective,” said DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman, with the knowledge that more work needed to be done.

In fact, Hausman told the UCAT development team, “I want you to break it, so that we know what we have to fix to make it effective.”

For Umer Farooq, lead of the UCAT development team, the message was clear – make this work. “We were excited that UCAT was finally getting the attention it needed to make it a viable tool but we were also afraid of not having enough time to make it work,” he said, adding that the front end was ready, but that there were still questions about how the system would handle the assessment load.

“Everyone banded together, the MLIs, testing department and the teachers [to input exams] … we jumped on the problem and tackled it … to keep the GPAs reflective and give our students good assessments,” explained Babcock, adding that providing this measurement was key for students to track their progression and prepare for the final Defense Language Proficiency Test.

“By early May, a lot of the problems had been overcome,” said Joey Holguin, director of Information Technology support. “Once we saw that this was the solution the Institute was going with, we stepped in to help and make sure the program was up to industry standards in terms of securing data.” A single-sign on solution was also achieved, easing access for users.

“Since May, we have conducted 2,674 assessments, or GPA influencing events,” said Farooq proudly, illustrating data on slides that showed more than 150 tests being conducted per week for about 2,500 students, currently attending 155 classes which are running simultaneously in 16 different languages.

“UCAT is a great tool,” chimed in Babcock. “You can assign the student all of their military studies materials and they can go through them at their own pace. It gathers all the student data so you can go in and look at the minor assessments that the students have done …and it saves all of their answers of their daily work – as well as quizzes.”

As for the students, Spc. Mark Meixell said he didn’t feel he was short-changed by the rapid switch to online learning or the initial struggle with assessments. “I thought the teachers did a good job of transferring the classroom to remote teaching…. UCAT definitely had some bumps, like using the right browser and going through a virtual desktop, but it was fine for evaluating our progress.”

Though claiming that he often experienced distractions while studying in his room six to seven hours per day, Meixell received a 3/3 on the final DLPT exam, a score that is deemed quite exceptional, not least during a pandemic.

By Information Warfare Training Command Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif. – Sailors attached to Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Monterey recently participated in a base-wide suicide prevention stand down, coordinated by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), onboard the Presidio of Monterey.

DLIFLC leadership called for the stand down, which was originally scheduled for January 2021, to be held early based on concerns that restrictions related to COVID-19 mitigation efforts were placing unusual stressors on service members enrolled in one of the military’s toughest training programs.

Sailors attached to Information Warfare Training Command (IWTC) Monterey recently participated in a base-wide suicide prevention stand down, coordinated by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center onboard the Presidio of Monterey. IWTC Monterey, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training, provides a continuum of foreign language training to Navy personnel, which prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)

Students went to class as normal during the mornings of two-day event, but were released to their individual units in the afternoon to participate in presentations and small group discussions. IWTC Monterey staff also participated the week prior in “train the trainer” suicide prevention sessions.

The stand down was focused around a series of presentations by Kevin Hines, who tells his story of surviving a suicide attempt, when as a young man, he jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Mr. Hines is a survivor of a suicide attempt that took place 20 year ago when he was 17 years old,” says Fire Control Technician 1st Class Michael Clark, IWTC Monterey’s suicide prevention coordinator. “He tells his story and what was going through his head at the time. He talks about how once he committed to jumping from the bridge, he immediately regretted his decision.”

Following Hines’ presentation, Sailors were broken up into small groups to engage in discussions facilitated by IWTC Monterey staff members.

“Some Sailors feel guilty about taking time off for self-care,” shared Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 1st Class Zachary Acosta, a division leading petty officer.

Acosta goes on to describe sources of stress for his Sailors: fear of failure, feeling isolated, and facing difficult academic challenges.

“We discussed areas of common ground and how we can use common experiences to build a team,” added Acosta.

Clark reported that he received overwhelming positive feedback from the students.

“You could tell there was an emotional impact,” said Clark.

The stand-down concluded with a question and answer session with Hines.

Seaman Alison Chipley, a student at DLI stated that, “Mr. Hines’ story was informative and eye-opening to those who have had no experience with mental illness or suicidal ideation.”

She went on to describe how Sailors continued to talk with one another about the presentation, even outside of the group discussions.

“The time that we had to discuss Mr. Hines’ story definitely opened the group up to one another,” added Chipley. “It definitely made us stronger as a team, even beyond the topic of suicide.”

IWTC Monterey, as part of the Center for Information Warfare Training (CIWT), provides a continuum of foreign language training to Navy personnel, which prepares them to conduct information warfare across the full spectrum of military operations.

For more on Information Warfare Training Command Monterey, visit https://www.netc.navy.mil/IWTCMonterey and http://www.monterey.army.mil/Service_Units/IWTC_Monterey.html, or find them on Facebook.

With four schoolhouse commands, a detachment, and training sites throughout the United States and Japan, CIWT trains over 22,000 students every year, delivering trained information warfare professionals to the Navy and joint services. CIWT also offers more than 200 courses for cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists, information systems technicians, electronics technicians, and officers in the information warfare community.

By Tammy Cario

Things haven’t turned out exactly as Marine Lance Cpl. Marissa Dow planned since she walked into the recruiter’s office a few years ago.

“The recruiter sold me on the values of the Marine Corps and then he asked me what I wanted to do. I wanted to do medical.” When she discovered that the Marine Corps doesn’t have medical, she decided it didn’t matter – the Corps was what she wanted. A few months after graduating high school, Dow was in basic training when she learned she was headed to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center to become a linguist.

“I said, ‘Uh, I don’t know about this,”’ she said with a laugh.

Nearly three months of tutoring prior to starting class gave Dow and a fellow Marine classmate a boost, she felt. And then March 12, 2020, the first day they were to begin Indonesian class, the consequences of a worldwide pandemic hit – classes at DLIFLC went entirely virtual.

“We were hoping that we would meet the students face-to-face before we had to go online 100%,” said lead Indonesian instructor Fransiska Oktoprimas. But with a completely new and deadly virus threatening, the decision was made. To Oktoprimas, that turned out to be a good thing for her class because they didn’t have expectations or preconceived notions.

“They were told, ‘Okay, you’re not going to see your teacher so you have to study really hard because you have to be independent, you have to be an autonomous learner,’” said Oktoprimas, who believes this is what helped them to try harder and study more.

There were challenges and good things, just like every class, she said. The weekly online tests, for instance, were difficult at first. The system that they were asked to use was buggy in the beginning. It would lose answers or stop working altogether right in the middle of the test. “It was quite a nightmare.”

One of the great advantages, she said, were the students themselves.

“We’re so lucky to get self-motivated, very diligent, smart people in this class,” said Ocktoprimas about her class, where two of the students were on their second language at DLIFLC. One of those students was a seasoned Navy officer and class leader who helped the other students optimize their studying, Ocktoprimas added.

Dow said, “We still found ways to make jokes, have fun so it wasn’t just sitting, staring at a computer. I think that the teachers did an amazing job of adapting.”

With eight teachers of varying ages on the team, it was at times a challenge for them, said Dow. “They always worked really hard to give us everything we needed so we could still do well in class.”

Another advantage to virtual classes is that it opens up hours when the instructors are available. Before teleworking, teachers were reluctant to drive to the Institute so early in the morning to offer tutoring before class, Ocktoprimas explained. Now, working from home without the commute, teachers are much more willing to meet with the students for zero hour in the morning or 8th hour in the afternoon after class.

All of their hard work paid off. On November 25, all eight students graduated as the first class at DLIFLC to do their entire language training virtually, all meeting or exceeding DLIFLC standards.

Marine Lance Cpl. Marissa Dow (right) along with fellow classmate Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Carroll, both students in the Indonesian schoolhouse at DLIFLC, speak during their virtual graduation Nov. 25, 2020. Theirs is the first all-virtual class to graduate since COVID-19 began. (Photo by Leo Carrillo)

During the graduation, Dow, who received a score of 2+/3/2, said, “I’d like to leave you all with the words of President Joko Widodo. ‘Ready, not ready, you must be ready.’ We don’t know what will happen after we graduate, but in my opinion, everyone in this class is ready to overcome whatever the future holds.”

That was her mindset during the entire course, she said.

“We may not have everything lined up in our favor, but we still have to do the class and we still have to do our best. And we still have to graduate. COVID doesn’t stop us from learning, so it shouldn’t stop us from exceeding.”

By Mission Public Affairs

After serving successfully at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center for over two years, three-time DLIFLC graduate Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Donehue relinquished his role as the Institute’s most senior enlisted leader to Command Sgt. Maj. Ernesto L. Cruz on Soldier Field at the Presidio of Monterey Dec. 4.

Command Sgt. Maj. Ernesto L. Cruz accepts the guidon on Soldier Field at the Presidio of Monterey Dec. 4.

During a ceremony that was marked by face masks and socially distanced seating, Donehue thanked the faculty, staff and students for their hard work and effort. He had a special message for the military leaders that have a direct impact on the students’ everyday lives.

“You have the awesome responsibility of shaping our students into future warfighting linguists,” said Donehue. “It’s one of the best jobs you’ll ever have in the military. Enjoy this opportunity and focus on the positive.”

DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman, who presided over the ceremony, thanked Donehue for his service and spoke about how well they functioned as a team. “We were always in lockstep together…He was my eyes and ears, seeing classes, (talking with) the troops and faculty…and always gave me the candor I needed.”

Donehue will retire this summer after 29 years or service. “Today will be Sgt. Maj. Donehue’s last day wearing the uniform…and it is time for him to take a knee. Tomorrow he will begin his next journey,” said Hausman, adding that it was a sad occasion to see him go, but a happy one because of future opportunities.

Cruz, also a former graduate of DLIFLC, came the Presidio from South Korea, where he was the battalion command sergeant major. Originally from Penuelas, Puerto Rico, Cruz was raised in Paterson, New Jersey. He enlisted in 1998 as a cryptologic linguist and came to DLIFLC to study Hebrew and later Arabic. His military career has taken him across the country and all over the world, including a peacekeeping mission in Kenya and twice to Jordan.

DLIFLC drill sergeants return to duty after the ceremony on Solider Field at the Presidio of Monterey.

“I will do my utmost to continue to meet the expectations and needs of this honored organization, said incoming Command Sgt. Major Cruz. Adding humor to the event, Cruz said, “Command Sgt. Maj. Donehue, thanks. Don’t worry, I got this…I think,” as the audience chuckled.

Senior military and civilian staff, friends and family members attended the ceremony. The event did not include a formation and younger service members in attendance as is traditional, due to the pandemic. A live stream was provided for those who could not attend. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCe1SPlvwVQ&feature=em-lsb-owner

By Natela Cutter

In a world where attitudes are impactful, motivational speaker Jeffrey Bucholtz spent two days interacting with Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center students Dec. 8 and 9, to bring to their attention how mindsets affect people’s behavior toward sexual abuse, harassment and violence.

Jeffrey Bucholtz, SHARP guest speaker addresses students on PFC field.

On Dec. 8, Bucholtz held a virtual presentation for more than 2,800 service members who were able to listen to the event online. The following day, Bucholtz held three separate question and answer sessions with Army, Air Force, Navy and Marne Corps foreign language students to provide answers to their questions about sexual assault and harassment.

In the smaller in-person event on Dec. 9, Lt. Col. Matthew Upperman, commander of the 229^th Military Intelligence Battalion, addressed a several hundred masked and socially distanced service members at Price Fitness field. “Sexual assault in our formations is a very real thing. We have to have zero tolerance and be open to talk about it at every level.”

“All of you are the change makers – you have to carry it forward for the future of our Army,” said the 229^th MI BN Command Sgt. Maj. Lourdes Barragan, in her introductory remarks. “There is a long way to go. If you see something, say something. If you see it at your level, you have to quash it. We have to take care of our brothers and sisters and all of us need to take care of each other,” she said.

Service members posed profound questions about how they can help those who were faced with sexual assault and harassment as well as how to change the culture they live in. Questions included: “How should we respond when people view the topic of sexual harassment/assault as something to joke about?” and “How do we effectively change the culture within the military when members still consume mass media that spreads many stereotypes of hyper-masculinity and the objectification of women?”

Bucholtz spoke about the importance of sexual consent, how to support those who have been sexually assaulted and how to reframe cultural attitudes. He urged service members to not be afraid of opening up the conversation with friends and family in order to point out how laisse fare attitudes can promote harmful behavior.

“Calling someone out is basically about you disrupting the behavior by (saying), ‘Dude, that is not cool.’ When talking to friends and family and not wanting it to be awkward… try to ‘call them in,’ so that

Jeffrey Bucholtz, SHARP guest speaker talks with service members at PFC field Dec. 9, 2020

you give them space to change,” Bucholtz recommended.

“His message is thought provoking and challenges our cultural norms,” said DLIFLC Commandant Col. Gary Hausman.  “He is engaging, but in your face and forces discussion on hard topics.”

Hausman took on some of the more difficult questions that involved the several ways of reporting sexual assault and harassment in the military. “Victim advocates, health workers, chaplains … they all have to treat you anonymously and we have a process … The restrictive reports provide anonymity and the idea is to empower the victim to determine what information is shared.” Reassuring the audience, he said, “If you are afraid or concerned about retaliation, send me a direct email. I am committed to helping you and protecting you.”

The training came on the heels of the conclusion of a criminal investigation at Fort Hood, Texas, that looked at a widespread pattern of violence, sexual assault and harassment within the Army ranks. Some 14 officers and enlisted Soldiers were relieved of their duties after the death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen and several other incidents on the installation.

“In a world of respect, everything is better. It feels like we are not being good at finding ways to see value in those who are different from us…If you want an America that has no sexual assault, you have to build one that is more equitable,” said Bucholtz in his closing remarks.