Again with the Roman Legions

I'm on a Roman empire kick tonight, I guess that's the price you pay for playing Total Mideival War for just a little to long. Anyhow, a retired army colonel is pushing for a spanish version of the army entry test according to the army times. I'll work around the obvious do you really want a non-english speaker in your unit not understanding orders while under fire, and pass on down to some of the errata about immigrants in the army.

Draw whatever conclusions you want, I found these items interesting.

Citizenship as a reward for U.S. military service already exists.

In July 2002, President Bush signed an executive order that “expedited naturalization for aliens and noncitizen nationals serving in an active-duty status ... during the period of the war against terrorists of global reach.”

In October 2004, further benefits were added:

•Naturalization processing now is available overseas at U.S. embassies, consulates and military installations.

•No fees are required to file for naturalization.

•Posthumous citizenship is awarded to active-duty personnel who die in the line of duty, and “special consideration” is given to surviving family members seeking citizenship.

About 45,000 non-U.S. citizens are serving in the military, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reports. Eduardo Aguirre, the director of CIS, said he favors the new approach. .....

In the 1990s, the military experimented with soldiers who had limited English-speaking ability. They were allowed to enlist and were taught English, Stauffer said.

But the time and expense of the program made it impractical, he said. ....

(and in a true sign of recruiting woes)

Valdez likened his proposal to the Vietnam-era Project 100,000.

In 1966, the government accepted into the military people who scored below 20 on the Armed Forces Qualifications Test. They previously had been rejected.

“I am privileged to say that I had many of them in my units that I commanded, and they did an outstanding job,” said Valdez, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam as an infantry officer.