Losing Ground on the Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Team Mission

Abstract Foreign language skills are a critical enabler to the success of military operations in Afghanistan focused on reconstruction. Specifically, the current lack of language training for U.S. military personnel assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) has made U.S. military members reliant on a cadre of interpreters who have little to no formal training in interpretation or translation skills, and in some cases may not have the most adequate language skills. This paper was based predominantly on the personal experiences of the author who served on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan from April 2006 to April 2007 and substantiated with publicly posted job listings for Dari/Pashto linguists. This paper is not intended as a critique of the dedicated and courageous cadre of self-motivated interpreters doing their best to further the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. It is a critical review of the limited selection criteria and lack of training and resources which place an overwhelming burden to self-teach in an environment where mistakes can costs lives and waste millions of dollars in resources.