CIA Reading Room cia-rdp78-03198a000100020001-8: DD/P LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS SURVEY PREPARED BY(Sanitized)

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STANDARD FORM NO. 64 r . Approved For Relge 200 h ,:8-03198A06Q~}?00020001-8 Office Memorandum ? UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO Chief, Language and.Area School FROM : Plans and Policy Staff SUBJECT: DD/P Language Requirements Survey Prepared by n October 195 25X1A 25X1A DATE: 28 January 1960 1. I have made a quick review of the DD/P language requirements survey which was conducted in the fall of 1957 and thought you might be interested in my reaction. The study looks like a pretty good be- ginning and gives us a toe hold on this problem which, I agree with ought to suffice for our immediate purposes. However, w en t e c imate is right, we ought to try to have this study updated and at the same time seek a much more comprehensive examination of DD/P's requirements based on realistic proficiency standards. 2. For the record, here are my offhand observations about the study. General a. DD/P is unduly influenced in its statem nt of require- ments by a backward glance at its assets. No ere is this more apparent than in a comparison of the requ ements of EE (which is blessed with language riches) and NEA (which has a paucity of such skills). To argue that operational circumstances in the Near East and Africa areas make foreign language skills unnecessary (while at the same time contending that they are vital in EEl) flies in the face of all current professional advice in this matter. As you know, a veritable clamor is being made by the Congress, the OGB, and. many other Government and private officials to the effect that U. S. representatives abroad must know the languages and customs of the country in which they serve if they are to communicate effectively with the foreign governments and peoples with whom they are dealing. I am afraid that what really is happening is that CIA may be adjusting some of its operations to fit its language capabilities in areas where esoteric languages abound. We ought to ask 25X1A ourselves very seriously whether it is more important f Approved For Release 2002 ! ;:1 RF8-03198A000100020001-8 Approved For Release 200 78-03198A000.100020001-8 UT4 b. Each component, and particularly the senior staffs, has neatly ducked the rotation problem in determining its language requirements. The PP Staff, for example, says it has no language requirements; yet its people expect to rotate overseas. It is probably unrealistic to expect that individual components can solve this aspect of the requirements problem. It can only be handled properly by a central authority in DD/P who has the correct overview.. This central authority has to be tied in closely to long-range operational planning and also to the whole personnel picture, both short and long range. 'He must, in addition, have the authority and the courage to set realistic proficiency standards for pe