DLI Alumni Association (DLIAA) Quarterly Newsletter VI Issue 2-05 - April 2005 "In Support of the Defense Language Institute" http://www.dli-alumni.org/

 

  1.  Thoughts from the DLIAA president:  DLI, a vital national resource that should be preserved
  2.  Voluntary Separation Incentives (VSIP) - Buyouts
  3.  Calendar of Events (2005)
  4.  Retirements  (Jan to Apr 05)
  5.  In Memoriam (Jan to Apr 05)
  6.  Mark Vasser, Russian Instructor, dies at 68

  7.  Plans to lease two Monterey elementary schools hotly debated - Recent headlines
  8.  Union President speaks out at Monterey Peninsula Unified School District (MPUSD) meeting
  9.  Retired MI officer's first novel -  David DeHart
10.  The evolution of Team Teaching at DLI - 1985-2005 - Ben De La Selva
11.   Linguist Net provides easy access to online language materials in five languages
12.  The "Savage Gopher" and the DLIAA newsletter banner (see top left)
13.  DLI coffee mugs
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1. Thoughts from the DLIAA president

    DLI, a vital national resource that should be preserved

   The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a valuable national resource that should be preserved. From its modest beginnings on the eve of World War II at the Presidio of San Francisco to its enterprising present at the Presidio of Monterey, DLI has been a premier language institution in two very important senses -- it has provided the United States military with one of the most potent intelligence weapons ever known to humankind: language, and the Monterey campus has offered the largest concentration of language professionals experts in the world since 1947.

   In the last six decades, through a systematic and well-organized program, the Defense Language Institute has consistently produced linguists capable of using their newly acquired language to gather intelligence on land, air and sea. Whether assigned to Army infantry units, Navy ships, Marine battalions or Air Force aircraft, DLI graduates have proven their worth. In the Gulf War, even graduates who were principally trained as listeners were called on to work as interrogators, interpreter, and translators, demonstrating that their knowledge of the basic language was well-grounded.

    Our very first graduates, second generation Japanese-Americans, Nisei, fought with brains and bullets in the Pacific Theater. Owing to their efforts, World War II was shortened by two years, said Gen Charles Willoughby, a member of Gen Douglas Macarthur’s staff. Their skills, applied while island hopping and soldiering with the rest of our World War II heroes, were instrumental in communicating, translating, and interpreting for the surrender of the Japanese high command.

    One of the most historic feats was the interception and translation of the Japanese military code. According to Bill Wagner, writing for the VFW Magazine "The Nisei’s biggest intelligence coup was the capture and translation of the Z Plan, Imperial Japan’s strategy for defending the Marianas Islands (Guam and Saipan). Armed with that translation, Adm. Raymond Spruance’s pilots destroyed Japanese air bases and scores of aircraft before the landings. Another coup was the Imperial Japanese army’s ordnance inventory. It listed amounts, types and manufacturer’s names and locations on the home islands, providing new targets for B-29s.” “The Nisei soldiers” served from the icy tundra of Kiska and Attu in Alaska’s Aleutians to the boiling jungles of Burma and India, and on still classified missions with the OSS, Office of Strategic Services, a CIA forerunners.”

    Since those historic days, military linguists, the great majority graduates of the Defense Language Institute, have fought and died alongside their comrades in the frozen hills of Korea and the steaming jungles of Vietnam. And again, they started at the face of combat in war-torn Beirut, where 241 marines died in the explosion of the Marine barracks; in besieged Panama, where they communicated on the spot with the native population; and in the desolate vastness of sun-scorched Arabia, where between sun, sweat, and sand they patiently waited for the 100-hours war, and where one of them became the personal interpreter for Gen Schwarzkopf. They were also in Somalia, and later tried their language skills in Bosnia and Kosovo. More recently, many have served more than once in Iraq and Afghanistan, assisting commanders with the difficult task of understanding the local cultures.

    Additionally, scores of unsung heroes graduated from DLI during the five decades of the cold war, many spending endless hours in listening posts, ready to detect the actions and intentions of American foes. However, the greatest exploits of our linguist heroes are unfortunately shrouded in the secrecy of their intelligence work. Demonstration of this secrecy is the fact that some of the accomplishments of the Nisei were still classified in the 1970s.

   While acquiring their language, DLI students have interacted with the highest concentration of language experts in the world, their civilian teachers. These foreign-born professionals have constituted the first contact the students have had with foreign cultures. Thus, for six decades American military students have been exposed directly and indirectly to verbal and non-verbal behavioral patterns that, once understood, have given them powerful insights into other cultures’ logic and ways of thinking.

    This pool of extraordinary professionals was not created overnight. After the initial wave of Nisei instructors came a stream of professionals from Europe, Latin America, the Middle and the Far East beginning in 1947 and continuing today. Immigrants from all the corners of the globe have enlightened and enriched the intellect of several generations of servicemen and women.

    In 60 plus years, the DLI organization has matured, solidified, and evolved into a cohesive force capable of meeting the language challenges of the twenty-first century. Its 900 plus foreign language teachers represent a powerful intellectual force impossible to duplicate without considerable time, effort and expense.
The Defense Language Institute is definitely a valuable national resource that should be preserved. No other institution presently exists that can replicate the DLI’s accomplishments of the last 60 some years, and conceivable it could take many years before another comparable organization can be created to fill its shoes.
   
   Never in the history of military intelligence have so few trained so many to understand so much in so many languages.
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I look forward to hearing from you about your thoughts, suggestions and stories. You can write to me at president@dli-alumni.org.  Benjamin De La Selva, President            . 
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2. Voluntary Separation Incentive Program (VSIP) - Buyouts

   As reported in our last newsletter, VSIP buyouts were offered in Nov 04 to school deans, department chairs, and faculty in the Spanish, Russian, French, and Persian Farsi programs.  Several individuals who took advantage of these incentives left betwwen 3 Jan 05 and 3 Apr 05.

  Additionally, more VSIP were announced recently in the following programs (numbers): Russian (2), Turkish (1), Arabic (8), Korean (8), Chinese Mandarin (4), and Persian Farsi (4). Anyone taking these last incentives must agree to be off the rolls NLT 3 Jul 05. VSIP can only be given to those who: are U.S. citizens, have been continuously employed for the Department of Defense at least 12 months, and are serving under an appointment without time limitation (are either "permanent" or "tenured" faculty). Re-employed annuitants are not eligible for VSIP buyouts.
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3. Calendar of Events - 2005

- Defense Foreign Language Steering Committee and Annual Program Review (DFLSC/APR) Conference - 10 Mar 05 - The DFLSC/APR Conference took place as scheduled in the Rassmussen Hall Conference Room, Presidio of Monterey.
- The Digital Stream Conference - 24-26 Mar 05, at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). Most attendees to the conference were DLI faculty and staff. For more information for next year's conference go to: http://wlc.csumb.edu/ digitalstream/2005/
- Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Conference - 31 Mar- 3 Apr 05, in Long Beach, CA and also from 30 Mar - 2 Apr 05, in San Antonio, TX. This conference took place as scheduled with many DLI faculty attending.   For more information for next year's conference see http://www.tesol.org/conv/index-conv.html.
- California Language Teachers Association (CLTA) Conference - 14-17 Apr 05, Ontario, California. For more information, see http://www.clta.net/conference/confindex.html
- National Prayer Breakfast, 22 Apr 05, Gen. Stilwell Community Center, 0630-0800
- Korean Reunion - Thursday, 5 May 05 and hosted by the two Korean schools - (Munakata Hall, Presidio of Monterey)
- Worldwide Language Competition (WLC) – Third week in May 05 (Presidio of Monterey)
- Language Day – 20 May 05 (Presidio of Monterey)- For more information visit the DLI Alumni Association website: : http://www.dli-alumni.org/LanguageDay/LanguageDay05.htm
- CLPM Seminar and Joint DoD Language Conference - Oct 05 - Exact date or venue not yet determined
- DLI 64th Anniversary – 1 Nov 05  (Presidio of Monterey) - Details are not yet available
- The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Conference - 18-20 Nov 05, Baltimore, MD - For more information go to http://www.actfl.org. The Convention theme for 2005 is - Realizing Our Vision of Languages for All.
- Installation Christmas Party - Friday, 9 Dec 05 - Weckerling Center - More information will be provided at a later date.
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4. Retirements (Jan to Apr 05)

Ray T. Clifford (Chancellor, Defense Language InstituteI)
Benjamin De La Selva (Dean, European & Latin American School)
Jorge Kattan (Spanish Chair, European & Latin American School))
Sang Il Lee (Korean Chair, Asian School III)
Margaretta Vertelevsky (Russian instructor)
Bella Rabinovich (Russian instructor)
Nuha Khatib (Arabic instructor, Middle East School II) - retired last year
Patricia Dege (Chief, Faculty and Staff Development)
Rene De Barros (French Instructor, European and Latin American School)
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5. In Memoriam (Jan to Apr05)

David Burns (Staff in several DLI schools)
Willis Sexton (Russian student, Army Language School)
Mark Vasser (Russian Teacher) - See article below
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6.   Mark Vasser, Russian Instructor, dies at 68
From notes written by Mr. Vasser's daughter, Mila Anderson

    Mark Vasser died in his home on February 2, 2005 at the age of 68. He was born on November 29, 1936 in Kiev, Ukraine to Sofia Shor and Avram Vasser. When he was four years old, the Soviet Union entered World War II, and he and his mother evacuated to Uzbekistan. While there, he quickly learned the local language and helped translate for the Russian-speaking evacuees. After the war, Mark and his mother returned to Kiev and learned that his father was missing in action. As he grew up, he was an avid reader and chess player, even a local chess champion. He earned a degree as a technician-mechanic from the Kiev Technical School of Food Industry in 1958 and a Master’s degree from Kiev State University in Political Economy in 1966. He worked as head of the economics department in the Ministry of Gas Industry. He came to the United States in 1978, and to Monterey in 1979. There he started a new career as a Russian instructor at Defense Language Institute. He loved working with students and was active in many aspects of DLI. After he had to retire for medical reasons, he stayed busy reading, doing crossword puzzles, and taking walks by the ocean. He was a loving, involved father and a doting grandfather, and corresponded with an extended family spanning four continents. He was always a kind, giving, loving man who gave help to anyone who asked for it. He is survived by his children: Alexander Vasser of Aptos, CA and Mila Vasser Anderson of Tucson, AZ; and two grand-children: Annika and Sabina Anderson of Tucson, AZ. A funeral service took place at the Monterey City Cemetery on February 7, with Rabbi Bruce Greenbaum officiating, and was attended by his family, friends and former colleagues.

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7.   Plans to lease vacant elementary schools hotly debated - Headlines

29 Mar 05 - Army tries to appease Monte Vista site foes
The Army has offered a number of steps to ease neighbors' concerns about its potential move-in next door
By SUKHJIT PUREWAL/ Herald Staff Writer
   With opposition to the Defense Language Institute's pitch to lease vacant Monte Vista Elementary holding steady, Army officials say they plan to do everything humanly possible to minimize its presence. (See Monterey Herald article - 29 Mar 05)

31 Mar 05 - Supporters, opponents of lease plan speak out
By BRANDY UNDERWOOD
Herald Staff Writer
    It was standing room only Wednesday night at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District meeting when residents showed up to speak for and against the district's plan to lease two vacant elementary school sites to the Defense Language Institute... (See Monterey Herald article - 31 Mar 05)

5 Apr 05 - MPUSD approves school leases
By BRANDY UNDERWOOD / Herald Staff Writer
   After hearing neighbors' concerns, the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District board unanimously approved the lease of two vacant school sites to the Defense Language Institute. ... about $500,000 annually to use the Larkin and Monte Vista elementary school sites. (See Monterey Herald Article - 5 Apr 05)

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8. Union president speaks out at MPUSD meeting on 31 Mar 05

     My name is Alfie Khalil. I am the President of the AFGE Local 1263 at the Presidio of Monterey. I represent the faculty and staff of the Defense Language Institute, the largest language teaching Institute in the world. We award associate degrees in foreign language to many of its graduates. It is officially recognized as a “National Treasure”.

  I have lived in Monterey for more than 25 years. In the Mid eighties, my son, Wally, graduated from Monte Vista School. The City of Monterey is blessed with the 1200 civilian professors who enrich the ambience and culture of the Monterey Peninsula.

   I have spoken to and listened to many residents of the Larkin and Monte Vista area community. I appreciate their difficulty and concerns regarding the proposed new use of this recently closed elementary school. However, the many peopleI have spoken with are pleased that the Department of Defense will pay generously for the lease of the properties, as those funds will go directly to support and benefit all the schools in our area. Many people are very proud to welcome the expansion of the DLI mission and to renew the community bond and loyalty that has been in existence for 65 years.

    At the end of 2004, the total number of students and staff at Monte Vista School was approximately 450 people. The DLI will staff that facility with approximately 120 faculty members. The site will be used only for computer technology and curriculum development. There will be no students at the site. This comparison should relieve the community from its concern over traffic congestion and parking. Work schedules can be modified to ease other concerns.

     I do recognize the community’s concern that using the facility will alter the quality of life and the social environment.  Earlier, I talked to a young man, Chris, who wants to play basketball with his friends until after midnight. And why not? The neighbors should have access to all past activities and usage of the facility. DLI will enrich the community and use many resources to have strong social interactions and strengthen its already strong ties with the community. The conversion of a vacant school to a profitable and positive endeavor should be a showcase to other communities undergoing school closures.

    It has been suggested that DLI should utilize property at the former Fort Ord. There is a property called Hayes School, which cannot be accessed by DLI as it has been conveyed to the City of Seaside. The amount of property left for DLI to use at the former Fort Ord site has been reduced to about only 340 acres. Almost all of the buildings are occupied. The rest of the remaining buildings contain asbestos and lead.

    There is a debate over whether the market value of houses would decline because of DLI's presence in the Monte- Vista community. I strongly disagree. The value of neighborhood homes around the five gates of the Presidio and surrounding area is always on the rise;  new homes, new construction and businesses are reaping higher value for their properties. We need to remember the social and historic value of our community, which makes Monterey one of the most desirable places to live.

   DLI is not under terrorist threats, and therefore stringent security will be relaxed to ensure normalcy in the community. No security guards will be necessary. We will have our own internal security and no intrusive security appearances such as excessive lights and obstruction of passageway to Paraisio Park, and no additional fences will stand in the way of residents’ life.

   There appears to be an aura of mistrust by some residents of the Monte Vista area. I hope that with true and correct information, trust will be restored. Total understanding should be backed up by a written agreement and witnessed by our Congressman and our city and DLI leaders. I also propose a committee of four, representing the leadership of the community to monitor the life and implementation of the agreement between the parties.

    Now, I appeal to you to embrace my proposal, my mediation and my call for one community and one neighborhood for unity and prosperity for all.
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9.  Retired MI officer's first novel
      by David DeHart  (Turkish graduate, June 1959, Army Language School)

   Wilsonville, Oregon - "Who says, you're too old to begin a new career?" asks sixty-nine-year-old Wilsonville writer, David DeHart. 

   DeHart, a native Oregonian, served a twenty-year stint in US Army Intelligence as a Special Agent and later as a Case Office; a tour of duty he describes as, "The best times of my life. What more could a young man ask for-the fascinating intrigue of living in Turkey, Italy, Germany, Malta, Korea, and Vietnam, supporting vital intelligence
operations."

    A strong desire to experience the long-suppressed creative side of his life came late. At age 65, DeHart became enthralled with writing; at first, creative non-fiction, then short stories-he's had articles published in The Colorado Prairie Times and the Charlotte (NC) Observer. His first attempt at a full-length novel remains sealed in a box, awaiting "a badly needed rewrite." "I consider that first novel on-the-job-training," Dave says.

    "Like anyone who has served in Military Intelligence," DeHart says, "I knew I had a few good stories in me; but could they be told? Would I violate regulations? Since most of my MI experience occurred between 1960 and 1973 chances of divulging vital operations was remote. With the proper sanitizing, plus my novel would be purely fictional, I could make a go of it." The result was "The Eye of The Viper." published this month by Booklocker.Com. A synopsis and excerpts from the book are available at www.TheEyeOfTheViper.com.  DeHart says it's a fast-paced, entertaining story of Military Intelligence Agents Dan, Bull and Nateesha, who are sent to Izmir, Turkey, to track down a renegade Kurdish terrorist, code-named "The Viper." The trio of Army "Spooks" treats the reader to a ride-a-long through the exotic and historic Aegean seacoast region of Western Turkey.

   DeHart's novel is dedicated to Military Intelligence personnel. Since writing "The Eye of the Viper" two years ago, Dave has recently completed an offbeat literary novel, "The Mystic Wolf," to be released this fall. Not someone to quit after three full-length novels, DeHart is deep into his fourth. "It's a dark novel, a roman noire mystery that takes place in Portland, Oregon in 1936. It will be ready for publication next year."

    When asked what's next in line career-wise, DeHart says, "Writing is now so indelibly a part of me, I imagine I'll keep at it for at least another 20 years." What then, you ask? "Maybe screenplay writing. I have an overactive muse that's urging me to try my hand at a screenplay."

   How does one begin writing? Dave says, "In addition to that old saw that you simply sit down at your keyboard and open a vein, I believe that everyone has a story inside them; they just need to let the right side of their brain take over and allow their creative instincts to flow."     "The characters in my novels are as real to me as my family," Dave says,

"They live and breathe life into my stories. When I go without writing for too long, they yell at me to get back to work. I often leave them suspended in air, waiting for me to keystroke them back into action."

   DeHart's philosophy as respects careers? "You can never have too many and it's never too late to start something fresh and exciting in your life." Oh, and what about that novel sitting in a box waiting for a "Badly needed rewrite"? I plan on dusting it off next year and making it a sequel to "The Eye of The Viper," using the same characters. Every now and then I can hear them screaming to let loose!"

   Author Dave DeHart lives in Wilsonville, Oregon with his wife Wendy, an interior designer and pastel artist. He is active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, several writers groups, and he is an avid gold prospector.  He has four grown children and five "Very smart and beautiful"  grandchildren. Dave retired from Military Intelligence in March 1973. He is a Turkish linguist who graduated US Army Language School, now Defense Language Institute, in 1959. He was assigned to Turkey where served as an interpreter/translator for COMLANDSOUTHEAST, Lieutenant General Harry Stork, before being recruited by MI. On a tour of duty in Korea in 1963, he had the honor of providing personal security for US Ambassador Samuel Berger Sr.

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10. The evolution of Team Teaching at DLI (1985-2005)

By Ben De La Selva* - with input from Col Monte Bullard, US Army (ret)

 

   Two of the fundamental changes that resulted in the transformation of the Defense Language Institute from an excellent to a great organization were the introduction of Team Teaching and the change from the Civil Service GS system to the Faculty Personnel System or FPS.  This article will address both, but mainly the former.

 

   The early beginnings of Team Teaching at the Defense Language Institute could be first gleaned in early 1985 from correspondence between Colonel Monte Bullard, then the US Army Attaché in Hong Kong, and Major Robert Hunt, Asian School Training Officer (now called Associate Dean).  Bullard had been a Chinese student at DLI in 1959 and had spent much of his Army career as a Chinese Foreign Area Officer.  At the time, Hunt maintained that the idea of a six-instructor teaching team came to Bullard when the latter first observed that while western students in Beijing were housed two to a room, six Chinese students occupied the same size room and got along fairly well.  While Hunt’s version of this “AHA!” experience could be contested, the truth is that Bullard thought a six-instructor team was ideal to work harmoniously and independently with three sections of students (at the same level), taking care of absences without borrowing teachers from other groups.  Bullard’s idea of Team Teaching was driven by two of his real intended purposes, to flatten the supervisory chain and to inject responsibility and accountability into the system.  He thought one of the big problems at DLI was the too many layers of civilian supervision, four to be exact: Provost (GS15), deans (GS13), chairs (GS12), and supervisors (GS11).  At the end, he decided to convert the GS11 permanent “supervisors” into GS11 “team mentors.” He also created temporary GS11 team mentor positions as career ladders for other faculty aspiring to advance.  The length of the temporary appointment was linked to the duration of the class the team was assigned to teach.  These new leaders would lack supervisory authority, but could take care of business by persuading and convincing rather than by using precious time to enforce minor rules and barking orders.  With a mentor in every team, Bullard in effect was pushing accountability and decision making to the level of the teachers, one of his principal ideas. 

 

    Note:  All promotions to GS11 permanent supervisory positions were discontinued.  These positions had been allocated at the ratio of one per fifteen instructors.  The new temporary non-supervisory positions were allocated at a ratio of one per six instructors.

 

   Bullard recalls that although he got some good ideas from Hunt before arriving at DLI, his real “AHA” experience was realized when he visited a certain language department on input day.  He found that not only did the teachers not know which class they would teach that day; they had done no preparation and had no real idea of who their students would be.  That surprise, combined with Bullard’s reading of the management book “In Search of Excellence” by Tom Peters, gave him some ideas on what to do during his DLI watch.  He also noted that teachers were not being treated very well, in that the maximum pay they could receive and remain in the classroom was that of a GS09, at the time only around $23,000 a year.  Promotions, he thought, had to be allowed for quality teaching, not for longevity, as in the Civil Service system.  He knew that after reaching the grade of GS09, teachers could not get promoted (and stay in the classroom), and couldn’t be fired either.  To be promoted, teachers had to leave the classroom and be supervisors.  He also found that many of the instructors had never had any significant training in language teaching.  Teachers knew their language well, but had no idea about testing theory, etc. In Bullard’s words, “we had to find a way to allow and support teachers to get advanced language teaching degrees and participate in professional language teaching organizations and activities.  They were the best, but they didn’t write much in the professional journals.”

 

The key idea about Team Teaching though was to improve the teachers’ incentive and to increase their accountability for the student’s learning.  It was important that the same teachers follow the same students throughout the course and that the teachers be judged on the outcomes reached by the students, and not just by the number of students who graduated. 

 

When asked how the idea of 6 teachers per team came about, Bullard said that the actual numbers came when he was driving across Texas with Dr. Ray Clifford (then DLI Academic Dean).  He drove and Clifford took notes.  On the road they designed the 6 person 2 teacher-per-section team that later had to be revised a bit to accommodate teams of four sections.  However, in his resolve to have three-section teams, Bullard directed the scheduling division to arrange for three-section inputs.  Thus, with exception of small language programs, inputs arrived in multiples of three sections for many years.

 

   As conveyed to Hunt, several of Bullard’s ideas prior to his arrival as DLI Commandant, sound very radical today, not to mention at that time.  For example, he wanted to republish DLI’s wiring diagram so that it looked like an inverted pyramid, with the school, departments, and teams on top of the diagram, and the Commandant at the bottom.  His thinking stemmed from the belief that “we had to make all of the staff and faculty view themselves as supporting the teachers, not controlling them”.

 

   Before Bullard’s arrival in August 1985, instructors were generally assigned to supervisors, who took care of one, two, three, and some times four classes (each composed of several sections), and supervised 10, 20, or 30 teachers.  The supervisor was in charge of teachers who taught classes at different levels and although most instructors stayed with the same group of students throughout the course, it was not uncommon for an instructor to be pulled out of one group to cover absences in another group, and then end up teaching students who might be in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the course.  Furthermore, the supervisor’s classes could be scattered in different areas of the same floor, or on different floors, or even in different buildings.  Many times instructors teaching the same students were located far from each other, making coordination of instruction very difficult. Until 1993, for example, all Arabic teachers were located on the second floor of Pomerene Hall, while students had classes in the first and third floors.  There were also Arabic classes in Nisei Hall and Munakata Hall, making some of the teachers walk from building to building.

 

     Having been a Chinese student, Bullard was familiar with the Chinese program and knew several of the instructors from his days at DLI and from Taiwan.  Therefore, he was interested in organizing the first teams in the Asian School.  One day he called the Asian School Dean (me) into his office, and bypassing the Provost, directed the former to start a team in the Chinese department.  Bullard’s ideas of Team Teaching included complete team independence from most established DLI practices.  The team would plan its own curriculum, write its own class and teachers’ schedules, and decide whether or not to use the formally-tried and traditional audio-lingual materials available to everyone.  Although still legally under a supervisor, the team was loosely managed by someone appointed as team leader, or mentor.  In retrospect, Team Teaching “a la Bullard” was flexible enough to coexist with any and all language teaching approaches used at DLI since the mid 1980s.  Bullard’s radical plan stood the Institute on its head.  The first casualty was lock step instruction; another sacred cow was the faculty to section ratio that eventually changed from 1.33 to 2 instructors per 10-student section. Then, one by one the permanent supervisors were replaced by temporary GS11 non supervisory mentors, and eventually by team leaders.  Furthermore, Bullard was in effect the supervisor of the first teams, in that he would tell the team members directly what to do, to the dismay of the chairs and supervisors.  When Bullard left DLI in October 1987 there were well functioning teams springing up in every school, the most successful being in the East European School (Czech department), under the leadership of  Jawdat Yonan.  

 

   Another notion in Bullard’s scheme included the use of computers.  According to Bullard, it was time to move into the computer world for publishing.  Many teachers and students complained about the cookie cutter textbooks.  His thought was to produce a textbook on a computer that could easily be revised by the teaching team.  The teachers would have complete authority to change the book anyway they liked, but they would be judged at the end on how their students did on the Defense Language Proficiency Test, DLPT.  In theory each team could teach from different teaching materials.  Another related idea was for the teaching teams to think about and prepare computer assisted exercises and support programs.  Some Czech department teachers led the way at the time and provided excellent examples of what was possible in tech learning.  Bullard used some of these Czech teachers to brief the Pentagon brass and their enthusiasm was key to selling the Team Teaching program.

 

    However, before implementing any drastic changes, Bullard knew he had to deal with the local Union.  Accordingly, in early 1986 he organized a deans’ (then called directors) offsite and invited Union president Natalie Fryberger to hear his innovative ideas for the first time. In the fall of 1986 Bullard involved Fryberger and the Union Board in negotiating a Team Teaching policy, a document that was signed by Dr. Clifford (then Provost) in January 1987.  With the signing of this official document other actions were initiated, the most important one being formal Team Building training, which required every newly formed team to go thru a week’s workshop organized by the Faculty and Staff Development Division.  The document was further revised in March 2003. 

 

    Bullard also began what was then called the “New Personnel System,” or NPS, that would organize the Institute like a civilian university, with professional ranks and titles, and away from constraining civil service regulations.  The NPS idea was forcefully pushed forward from year to year by Dr. Ray Clifford over the initial opposition of several commandants. The initiative finally became a reality in 1997/1998 as the “Faculty Personnel System” or FPS.  In retrospect, Team Teaching and the FPS began radical changes that in their maturity transformed DLI from an excellent institution into a great institution.  No other changes, either before or after, have made such a great impact in DLI's academic and personnel development areas.

  
   Part of the rationale for the FPS was that the Training and Doctrine Command, DLI’s parent organization, was evaluating DLI with the same measures that Fort Benning used in their training programs.  Obviously, that didn’t fit.  What DLI was teaching was broader and fit more into the notion of education versus training.  DLI also had to find a way to get teachers promoted and still remain in the classroom, but civil service regulations didn’t permit that.  Overall what Bullard wanted was a system that allowed good teachers, based on education and creativity in teaching, to get promoted and stay in the classroom.  Eventually, DLI would build in a period where teachers could opt in or out of the new system so those who were content with drawing low pay and working hard could still remain with us, even in the old system.  However, Bullard believed the vast majority would strive to improve themselves in the field of language teaching and that in turn would have an impact on the language ability of the graduates.

 

   Bullard was succeeded as Commandant by Col Todd Poch (Oct87-Sep88) and Col Ronald Couger (Sep88-Aug89), who made no significant changes to Team Teaching.  However, the next commandant, Col Donald Fischer (Aug89-Jan93), introduced several changes. One of them was authorizing one GS11 permanent team mentor position per team.  Some teams had already a former supervisor occupying that position.  However, in teams with only temporary team mentors, the incumbent had an opportunity to attain tenure.  Later, Fischer determined that one mentor per team was insufficient to adequately perform all the duties in their job description.  Therefore, the mentor position was divided into two team coordinator positions with many shared duties and a general division in emphasis between academic and administrative responsibilities.   These new team coordinator positions were labeled Teaching Coordinator and Program Coordinator and shared a common job description with optional break-out duties.  Both positions were temporary NTE one year, with renewable appointments linked to the duration of assigned classes.

 

   Another change introduced by Fischer was the Learner Focused Instructional Day (LFID), which emphasized student centered instruction, established the idea of split sections to enhance speaking, and initiated the 7^th hour of instruction.  This last idea was later discarded, as one more daily hour of instruction did not to produce a more proficient student.  At that time many of the split sections were still conducted in teachers’ offices. In the personnel area, Fischer went further and pushed for a second permanent GS11 per team.  During Col Vladimir Sobichevsky’s tenure (Jan93-Dec95), an idea sprang in the Germanic School, under the leadership of Dr. Neil Granoien.  The brainchild of Sabine Atwell and Gordana Stanchfield, both German chairs, this idea was first called the “Condo” concept, which was to collocate all teachers and students together geographically, as opposed to being scattered all over as in the past. Dr. Granoien implemented the idea in his school swiftly and over the objections of most faculty.  Later on, however, when schools or departments had to change locations, it was a logical step to fall into the “Condo” scheme.

 

Fischer’s policy of split sections and the pressure to further increase proficiency led to the need for extra rooms for those split sections.  During those years the Consolidated Team Concept (CTC) was born.  CTC included two elements; the first one was that the teachers and students must be geographically close to each other; the second that there would be enough rooms to conduct at least two split sessions per section per day (total of 6).  Thus the formula was created that every three-section team should have three classrooms, one breakout room, and two or three other rooms for teachers’ offices. 

 

   With the official introduction of the FPS in late 1997, teams’ dynamics changed.  To become a team leader it was no longer necessary to get promoted from GS09 to GS11.   Team leaders could be selected competitively or be appointed by the school dean.  Although most GS11s continued performing the team leaders’ job after converting to the FPS, little by little individuals in the professorial ranks took over the team leader positions.

 

  During the tenures of Col Daniel Devlin (Feb96-Dec00) and Col Kevin Rice (Dec00-Jun03), Team Teaching was left practically undisturbed.  Two years ago, however, during Col Michael Simone's watch, (2003-Present) the Team Teaching policy was slightly revised by Dr. Stephen Payne (Provost) on 30 March 2003, and emphasis was placed again on Team Building training.

 

    In 2004, the demands to produce better students caused DLI to assure the users higher proficiency rates in exchange for smaller sections, students with higher DLAB score, and longer courses.  Of those three, the services agreed to only the first one, smaller sections.  Thus, in various languages, inputs are now arriving with fewer than 10 students per section, i.e., 8 in Spanish and French, 6 in Russian.  This latest initiative has been named the Proficiency Enhancement Program, or PEP.

 

   The pressure to produce higher proficiency results and the need for more space due to the increase in student input have cause the DLI leadership to pause and rethink the Team Teaching and CTC concepts. Fortunately, wisdom has prevailed and no noteworthy changes have been introduced.  In summary, Team Teaching basically remains the way Col Monte Bullard envisioned it and implemented it.

 

   Although this article claims that Team Teaching improved DLI in many aspects, it will be difficult to back up that claim without statistics.   In the following chart, DLI uses 1985/86 as the baseline for measuring the improvement in the percentage of students reaching the L2 / R2 / S1+ levels (in yellow), and L2+ /R2+ /S2 (in blue).  In the first ten years after the implementation of Team Teaching we see a threefold increase in L2 / R2 / S1+ and almost a fivefold increase in L2+ /R2+ /S2.  Please refer to the second chart, below, for the interpretation of proficiency levels.

 

 

                                        PROFICIENCY LEVELS  (1 / 1+/ 2 / 2+)

LEVEL 1 - LISTENING	LEVEL 1 - READING	LEVEL 1 - SPEAKING
CAN GET THE MAIN IDEA WHEN LISTENING TO: • Statements about basic survival needs (meals, lodging, time, transportation, simple directions) • Simple questions and answers • Route instructions	CAN GET SOME MAIN IDEAS WHEN READING: • Simple narratives of routine actions • Simple descriptions of people, places and things • Simple explanations intended for tourists	CAN PARTICIPATE IN SIMPLE CONVERSATIONS THAT INCLUDE: • Introductions, exchange of greetings, and minimum courtesy requirements • Predictable personal and accommodations needs • Asking and answering questions • Simple biographical information • Explaining routine procedures
LEVEL 1+ - LISTENING	LEVEL 1+ - READING	LEVEL 1+ - SPEAKING
CAN GET THE MAIN IDEA & SOME FACTS WHEN LISTENING TO: • Short conversations about basic survival needs • Brief social conversations • Simple discourse	CAN GET SOME MAIN IDEAS AND ESSENTIAL POINTS WHEN READING: • Announcements • Simple narration of events • Simple biographical information • Social notices • Straightforward newspaper headlines	CAN INITIATE AND MAINTAIN PREDICTAPLE CONVERSATIONS THAT INCLUDE: • Travel and accommodation needs • Limited social demands • Very limited descriptions
LEVEL 2 - LISTENING	LEVEL 2 - READING	LEVEL 2 - SPEAKING
CAN UNDERSTAND THE FACTS WHEN LISTENING TO: • Descriptions • Narrations of past, present and future events • Conversations about everyday topics • Personal and family news • Well-known current events • Routine office matters	CAN LOCATE AND UNDERSTAND MAIN IDEAS AND DETAILS WHEN READING: • Simple factual, familiar materials • Descriptions and narrations of frequently occurring events • Simple biographical information • Social notices • Formulaic business letters • Simple technical materials	CAN PARTICIPATE IN EXTENSIVE CASUAL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WORK, FAMILY AND CURRENT EVENTS: • Can ask/answer predictable questions at work • Can give complicated detailed directions • Can make nonroutine changes and arrangements • Can describe and narrate in the past, present, and future
LEVEL 2+ LISTENING	LEVEL 2+ READING	LEVEL 2+ - SPEAKING
CAN UNDERSTAND THE FACTS, PLUS SOME IMPLICATIONS AND EMOTIONAL OVERTONES, WHEN LISTENING TO: • Most routine and social conversations • Most work related conversations • Some concrete discussions in a specialized field	CAN LOCATE AND UNDERSTAND THE MAIN IDEA AND MOST FACTS, WHEN READING: • Factual, nontechnical prose • Some concrete discourse in professional field • Can make sensible guesses about unfamiliar material	SPEAKING - CAN PARTICIPATE IN MOST SOCIAL, FORMAL AND INFORMAL INTERACTIONS: • Can satisfy most work requirements • Can communicate effectively in specialized field

*Professor Ben De La Selva retired from DLI in January 2005 after 40 years of federal service, the last 20 as dean of every DLI resident school.
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11.  The Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS)

     At the CSUMB Digital Stream Conference, members of the DLI Curriculum Division led by Steve Kopanny made a very detailed and informative presentation about GLOSS.  The general public has access to these materials.

    GLOSS (formerly DLI-LangNet) provides easy access to online language materials for language learners and teachers alike. There is an abundance of quality online materials available across five languages. These materials were specifically developed to target many of the common trouble areas for language learners striving to move from the plus level (1+, 2+, etc.) to the next full level as described by the Inter-Agency Language Roundtable scale.

  You can connect to GLOSS by visiting www.lingnet.org.  At the main page, click on GLOSS (DLI-Langnet), then on Search Resources.  You will be able to choose the language, proficiency level, topical domain, skill modality, competency, and resource type (text and audio).
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12. The "Savage Gopher" and the DLIAA newsletter banner

Our Newsletter banner displays a graphic of the "Savage Gopher."  The quote below is from The Globe's 50th Anniversary edition:

     "When soldiers at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at Camp Savage wanted a mascot, MISLS student Chris Ishii was there to accommodate. Before World War II, Ishii had been an artist with Disney Studios in Hollywood.   He created the Savage Gopher, beloved crest of MISLS.

    Camp Savage, Minn., was located in what had originally been Lakota territory. Indian territory and a military camp suggested the war bonnets of the chiefs. the gopher was the state animal of Minnesota.

    Combining the war bonnet and the gopher, Ishii came up with the Savage Gopher, which Joseph D. Harrington described as, "A gopher that tried its best to look warlike."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13.  DLI coffee mugs.  Provided there is enough interest, we are planning to order coffee mugs as shown below.  These 12 oz mugs will be blue, with graphics in white.  If you are interested, please let us know: dliaa@dli-alumni.org.