Should service members have to speak English while on duty?

2014-09-24T13:34:14-04:00

Ron Burgundy - You Know I Don't Speak Spanish

Ron speaks to Baxter in Anchorman.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 1:36 PM

2014-09-24T13:36:27-04:00

There is regulatory guidance that covers it actually

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Sep 24 at 2014 1:36 PM

2014-09-24T13:36:54-04:00

absolutely! Unless required by your job (linguist, interpreter, etc) you should speak in English.

Response by CPT Mike M. made Sep 24 at 2014 5:50 PM

2014-09-24T17:50:58-04:00

It was mandated while I was in Korea, for bilingual US army people and KATUSAs. Only exception was if a KATUSA didn't understand something then it could be explained to them.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 7:55 PM

2014-09-24T19:55:35-04:00

Yes they should unless there are mitigating circumstances where they are interpreting. My brother did that in Germany, as a translator with civilians over maneuver damage. In a private conversation away from everybody that is fine, but how many people have felt someone was talking about them, right in from of them?

Response by PO1 John Miller made May 11 at 2015 8:01 AM

2015-05-11T08:01:52-04:00

I realize this is an older topic but nonetheless I find it interesting enough to respond. I don't know if the Navy has an official "Big Navy" regulation on it, but I do know that every command I had been stationed at (from 1995 onward) there was an official command-level policy of English only (except obviously in the case of interpreters). In fact, shortly after that policy had been implemented when I was stationed in Guam I was at the chow hall. A lot of the Navy cooks were Filipino and would often speak Tagalog. I asked them to please speak English. A few did get upset and tried to call me racist but the command policy backed me up.

Others were happy to comply. There excuse (a valid one in my opinion) was that it was a new policy and it was taking some getting used to.

Response by SSG Donald Mceuen made May 11 at 2015 8:26 AM

2015-05-11T08:26:10-04:00

It all depends on the group there with at the time.
I had some buddys talking spanish about a officer
and they latter where ansewred in spanish by the officer
So if they are going to talk about someone they might want
to make sure they are careful what they say.
all-n-all if in mixed company they need to speak english

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 13 at 2015 2:54 PM

2015-08-13T14:54:31-04:00

Yes as I find it unprofessional.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 13 at 2015 3:35 PM

2015-08-13T15:35:38-04:00

Absolutely. I should say US servicemembers should. Foreign servicemembers seemingly obviously don't need to speak English, however proficiency in it would help them tremendously jointly.

That said the US should embrace having many officers and enlisted fluent in other languages (which they do). Business however within the US military should NEVER be conducted in a language other than English. The only times I've seen this done was to specifically exclude others from the work being done or to talk behind their back. There is no place for this.

Response by CW4 Russ Hamilton (Ret) made Aug 17 at 2015 12:46 AM

2015-08-17T00:46:47-04:00

Yes. Outside of the office, in the DFAC, gym, etc., they can speak what they choose. If in the office, on duty and discussing "business", yes, English should be spoken. Bottom line: It fosters animosity, suspicion and cliques. Obviously there are common sense exceptions with translators/interpreters and working with LN's. I ran into a serious problem with this while deployed in Iraq. We had four outstanding NCO's from Puerto Rico who spoke Spanish the majority of the time. After further inquiry, they had great difficulty speaking and writing English. Unfortunately, they ended up in non-leadership, non-MOS related positions due to this issue (the motor pool). Not my call but there wasn't really any other choice. They were 09L's (reserve interpreters), placed in a unit running CI/HUMINT ops. These guys were placed in a bad position, not due to any fault of their own.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 30 at 2019 9:47 AM

2019-03-30T09:47:15-04:00

Non duty related conversations do not need to be in English. I don't care who you are or what your rank is, you don't need to be in everyone's conversation.