Response to the Associated Press article, “Many Translators Unfit in Any Language.”

Fact Sheet: MEP Linguists in Afghanistan
July 27, 2009

General Information

Five years ago, U.S. Army veterans trained in linguistics founded Mission Essential Personnel (MEP) because they believed they could improve the quality of services contracting to the government and offer a better environment to employees and contractors. The company’s highest priority is to serve the U.S. mission effectively while protecting service men and women.
Since taking over the Afghanistan language contract in 2007, MEP has raised the quality and quantity of trained, security-cleared linguists while meeting all of the government’s hundreds of standards and regulations.
Due to its performance, the Army has awarded MEP three back-to-back ratings of Outstanding (the highest), an unusual achievement, and MEP’s share of Afghanistan and Iraq translation work has expanded significantly.
When MEP took over the Afghanistan language contract in late 2007, only 43 percent of linguists' jobs were filled. Today, even with increased requirements, MEP has achieved an unprecedented 97 percent fill rate.
Recently, MEP surveyed over 600 servicemen and women in Afghanistan on the company’s performance. The responses were overwhelmingly favorable. In response to the survey, MEP developed a system to help end-users in the field better specify their linguistics needs in real time, and the company is working with the military on implementation. MEP has been audited and visited by the government on a number of occasions and has been found compliant both at its domestic processing centers, as well as outside the U.S.
After the military assigns MEP linguists to their units, the company facilitates their movement to those units.

Age/Fitness

How old are MEP’s Afghan linguists?

75% are between 18 and 54;
25% are 55 and over.

Why aren’t there more young linguists?

The last major wave of Afghan immigration to the U.S. was during the 1980s and early 1990s, so there are few native speakers under the age of 40.
After six years of engagement in Afghanistan, the pool of available linguists has declined. To understand MEP’s recruiting challenges, realize there are only 7,700 Pashtu speaking U.S. citizens according to the 2000 census; more than 700 of them are MEP linguists.
While all personnel should be assigned appropriately according to their physical abilities, MEP values its older linguists for their maturity and subtlety in translating and interpreting, as well as their commitment to supporting the U.S. and coalition efforts to bring peace to the region.

What fitness standards does MEP have for linguists?

Linguists must pass a physical exam as part of the hiring process. MEP’s medical providers work closely with CONUS Replacement Center (CRC) physicians to ensure military standards are met. Prior to overseas deployment, military screeners ultimately decide who is qualified and who is not.
MEP’s Afghanistan contract contains medical requirements, but not requirements for age limits or weight. Remember, MEP is deploying linguists overseas to fill positions identified as critical shortfalls. If a linguist has a medical or physical limitation, MEP does not deploy that individual but attempts to locate positions for them in the U.S. or Europe.
The CRC at Fort Benning has instituted weight restrictions. All MEP linguists must complete CRC processing prior to deployment, and are medically re-screened and cleared at Fort Benning prior to deployment.
If necessary, military units in Afghanistan can request a change of personnel to better suit their requirements.
MEP understands the challenges facing combat troops in Afghanistan. Recently, the Marine Corps added new requirements to MEP’s contract for its deploying forces that include 90-day pre-training with MEP linguists in the U.S. prior to deployment. MEP understands the need to train in advance, but because of operational deployments and the immediate need for linguists, it has not yet been feasible. Since deployed linguist numbers have increased to required numbers, pre-deployment training with the Marines and various other deploying units has been made possible.

Language Skills

The standards for all MEP language tests (oral, reading and writing) are set by the U.S. Government based on the Department of Defense's Inter-Agency Language Roundtable standards.
MEP's testing directly adheres to U.S. Government standards. MEP maintains all testing data for review at any time by the U.S. Government. If a linguist were deployed and did not meet government standards, MEP would pay the U.S. Government any associated monies for such a linguist. This has not occurred on MEP's contract.
All candidates are screened initially by a retired military linguist over the phone; when they come to MEP’s Pre-Deployment Center, they are retested, orally and in writing, by an outside company with no financial incentive to approve them.
In some cases, troops are in areas that contain new Afghan dialects that have not yet been identified as contract requirements. Afghanistan is filled with dialects such as Pashayi, Waziri, Nurestani, etc. Some of these dialects are only spoken in small villages and valleys. In response, MEP is working with the military to identify such requirements and, if validated by the Department of the Army, new requirements (i.e., dialects) will be placed on the contract.
As part of its contractor oversight program, the government has deployed Contract Representatives to Afghanistan to monitor MEP’s work and identify issues. Should these military officers surface an issue, MEP immediately rectifies it.
Again, MEP is testing and deploying linguists as outlined by the government. MEP continues to welcome audit teams and inspections of our testing procedures and to date the company has passed all government audits focusing on the firm’s testing standards and practices.

Recruiting Practices

The government's contractor linguist program was formed to provide linguists where the Armed Forces had critical shortages. This means the men and women MEP deploys overseas are civilians who volunteer to work with our country's men and women in uniform. MEP's linguists face the same hardships and threats as America's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
MEP’s recruiters are trained regularly with a premium on accurately representing the environment linguists may face.
Throughout the pre-deployment process, candidates receive numerous, candid briefings, including photos, on the types of hardships they may encounter as linguists.