Posted on Jan 24, 2016
When learning a new language, do the languages determine the amount of promotion points you get?
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Posted in these groups: 
Military Career
Foreign Language
Defense Language Institute (DLI)
Promotion Board
Promotion Points
Military Career Foreign Language Defense Language Institute (DLI) Promotion Board Promotion Points
Posted 8 y ago
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According to AR 600-8-19, Para 3-19f -
f. Defense Language Proficiency Test. Twenty-five promotion points are granted to Soldiers who achieve a minimum limited working proficiency rating of 1/1 (listening, reading, or speaking) on the Defense Language Proficiency Test. Promotion points remain valid provided the Defense Language Proficiency Test proficiency standards do not exceed 1 year (year/month) as of the point compilation month.
So, according to the reg, it doesn't matter what language it is, you just need to attain a minimum proficiency. These points are under civilian education.
f. Defense Language Proficiency Test. Twenty-five promotion points are granted to Soldiers who achieve a minimum limited working proficiency rating of 1/1 (listening, reading, or speaking) on the Defense Language Proficiency Test. Promotion points remain valid provided the Defense Language Proficiency Test proficiency standards do not exceed 1 year (year/month) as of the point compilation month.
So, according to the reg, it doesn't matter what language it is, you just need to attain a minimum proficiency. These points are under civilian education.
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The languages determine your likelihood of being promoted based on the needs of the service. I was a Navy Russian linguist and worked at joint commands for my entire career. The Army Russian linguists had a hard time reaching E7 whereas the Arabic linguist probably had a different experience reaching E9! Think of each language as a sub-MOS to the primary MOS. That's why the most literature regarding linguists say "language dependent".
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SGT (Join to see)
Ah, I see. So basically choose a language that would benefit your career, over a language you would love to learn.
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PO1 Mark Filter
Sadly, yes. I chose Russian and it served me well, but it didn't give longevity for my career. I was able to do things and participate in programs I could only have dreamed of, thanks to speaking Russian, that other languages would not have offered, but the work I did was outside of the needs of the Navy, and therefore, I sat at E6 for 7 years until I decided to punch out.
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