DLIFLC HALL OF FAME
  Selectees for 2006

     The Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame Selection Board met on 28 Aug 06. The board considered 38 nominations, including linguists, instructors, military leaders, policymakers, and private citizens, and selected 10 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the dedication ceremony on 8 Nov. Selections were based on each individual’s contributions to language training and linguist employment in the Department of Defense.

      Although nominations for next year’s inductions may be submitted any time, the Institute will issue the next formal call for nominations in May 07, for induction in Nov 07.

The selectees for 2006 are:

Colonel (USAF, Retired) William P. Fife

     Col Fife graduated from the DLI Russian Basic Course in 1948. He is widely considered the “Father of Airborne Intercept” for the Air Force. In a career that spanned seven decades, he helped create the Air Force Communications Intelligence (COMINT) capability. He transformed Army Security Agency equipment and organizations into the Air Force’s first Radio Squadron (Mobile) and created the first airborne COMINT collection program, and established Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) intercept sites at Misawa, Ashiya and Wakkanai, Japan and in Korea. Col Fife planned and flew on the first USAFSS COMINT recon mission in 1949, paving the way for future BLUE SKY COMINT missions. He set the standard for employment of linguists in the Air Force that continues today.

Lieutenant Colonel (USAF, Retired) Rick Francona

     LtCol Francona graduated from the DLI Vietnamese Basic and Intermediate Courses in 1971, the DLI Arabic Basic Course in 1974, and the DLI Arabic Intermediate Course in 1978. He distinguished himself during numerous assignments in the Middle East, including tours as an advisor to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, Liaison Officer to the Iraqi armed forces, and personal interpreter and advisor to GEN Norman Schwartzkopf. He was the lead interpreter for the ceasefire talks with the Iraqi Army that ended Operation Desert Storm. After the Gulf War, LtCol Francona served as the first Air Attaché in Syria. He also served with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, and helped develop the Defense Department’s counterterrorism intelligence branch. Since retiring from the Air Force, LtCol Francona has written numerous articles and books on the Middle East, and appears regularly on several media outlets, including NBC Nightly News and MSNBC.

Mr. Shigeya Kihara

     Mr. Kihara was a Japanese instructor at DLI for 33 years. As one of the four original Japanese instructors hired for the Fourth Army Intelligence School, Mr. Kihara was a “Founding Father” of DLI. During his tenure at DLI, he taught thousands of Japanese linguists. He also served as in several leadership positions within the Institute, including Language Division Director, Chief of Research and Development, and Chief of the Support Division of the Systems Development Agency. After retiring from DLI, Mr. Kihara was active in the Monterey community as well as the Military Intelligence Service Association. He published numerous articles in magazines and professional journals. Mr. Kihara died in February of 2005.

Major General (USA, Retired) Roland Lajoie

     MG Lajoie graduated from the DLI Russian Basic Course in 1968. From 1973 to 1976, he served as Assistant Army Attaché to the Soviet Union, after which he commanded the US Army Russian Institute in Garmisch, Germany. He later served as Deputy Director for International Negotiations, J-5, Joint Chiefs of Staff; first Director, U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency; U.S. Defense Attaché in Paris and Moscow, and Chief, U.S. Military Liaison Mission, Potsdam, East Germany. His last military assignment was as the Associate Deputy Director for Operations/Military Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency. MG Lajoie served in a civilian capacity as the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Cooperative Threat Reduction until January 1998. In December, 1998, President Clinton appointed MG Lajoie as the U.S. Chairman to the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, where he led efforts to uncover the fates of military personnel of both sides missing since WWII. MG Lajoie is a stalwart example of a military linguist using his skills in service to this country.

Major General (USAF, Retired) Doyle Larson

     Maj Gen Larson was instrumental in the development of a career linguist force with the Air Force. He founded RC-135 COMBAT SENT Airborne Reconnaissance Units at Eielson AFB, AK, and Offutt AFB, NE. He also established the RC-135 operation at Kadena, Japan, in support of US military operations in Vietnam, which is credited with saving many downed pilots, as well as numerous assists for air-to-air kills during the war. Later, Maj Gen Larson commanded the Electronic Security Agency (now the Air Intelligence Agency), where he developed the “COMFY OLYMPICS” language competition. This competition continues today and was the precursor to the DLIFLC Linguist of the Year competition. Maj Gen Larson is a fervent supporter of military crypto-linguists. Upon his retirement, he received the Order of the Sword from the AIA enlisted community for his tireless dedication to bettering the lives of enlisted linguists – to include promotions, selective reenlistment bonuses, flight pay for enlisted aircrew linguists, and quality of life improvements. In retirement, Maj Larson served as President of the Air Force Association.

Mr. Hugh G. McFarlane

     Mr. McFarlane graduated from the DLI Russian Basic Course in 1966 and the Hebrew Basic Course in 1970. During nearly 23 years as a Navy linguist, he helped establish the National Security Agency/Cryptologic Security Service (NSA/CSS) military linguist program, and specifically designed and established an internship program which remains the longest-lived language intern program in the cryptologic community. He also established and administered the first Naval Security Group language maintenance program, at Misawa, Japan. After retiring from the Navy in 1988, Mr. McFarlane worked at DLIFLC, where he authored the Final Language Objectives for all Basic and Intermediate/Advanced courses, affecting over 3000 students every year. He also implemented the Feedforward/Feedback system, helped write the Command Language Program manual, and guided seven comprehensive curriculum reviews. During his seven years at DLIFLC, he mentored over 15,000 cryptologic students. Today, Mr. McFarlane serves in the Office of the NSA/CSS Senior Language Authority and on the Defense Language Action Panel.

Colonel (USA, Ret) David McNerney

     Colonel McNerney was Commandant of DLIFLC from 1981 to 1985. His tenure saw a wide range of significant improvements to DLI during a period in which the Institute’s student population doubled in four years, with associated faculty expansion. He oversaw the construction of 21 new buildings, including 13 new modern barracks buildings. He reorganized the troop command structure, developed the system of Military Language Instructors still in use today, instituted a number of academic and testing initiatives, and doubled the size of the permanent civilian faculty and created performance pay for instructors. Even more important to military linguists, COL McNerney developed the system of Foreign Language Proficiency Pay that was later enacted by Congress. His accomplishments in just four years had a remarkable impact on language training and linguist retention for DoD.

Mr. Glenn Nordin

     Mr. Nordin graduated from the DLI Russian Basic Course and the Vietnamese Advisor Course. During his military career, he served as a voice and Morse interceptor with tactical forces, Operations Officer with the Army Security Agency in Berlin, a Deputy Branch Chief at NSA, a ground Intelligence Officer in Vietnam, and as a Translator Shift Chief for the Washington-Moscow Hotline in the National Military Command Center. Mr. Nordin held a variety of language-related civilian positions for DoD after he left the service before becoming Executive Secretary of the CIA’s Foreign Language Committee in 1993. In that capacity, he supported a wide variety of initiatives in foreign language education, training, collection, processing and analysis. Mr. Nordin also developed the concept of virtual language processing, allowing linguists to share their workloads more efficiently and to accomplish their tasks more quickly. He has had a tremendous impact on the day-to-day lives of linguists and greatly facilitated their work.

Mr. Leon Panetta

     Mr. Leon Panetta has championed language education in the military, and worked to improve DLI’s home at the Presidio of Monterey, for over 30 years. During his term as Representative to the Ninety-fifth and the eight succeeding Congresses, he was instrumental in providing funds for capital improvement projects on the Presidio in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Nicholson Hall, Munakata Hall, Aiso Library, Munzer Hall, Price Fitness Center and the newer troop billets at the upper end of the Presidio are there due to Mr. Panetta's advocacy for the Institute. Mr. Panetta played a key role in the Institute being regarded as an academic institution, through his efforts to secure teacher compensation based on educational background and performance. His support in Congress of better pay for DLI faculty led to the current Faculty Personnel System. Mr. Panetta has continually advocated for more and better language instruction in the United State and was a key participant in developing and gaining Congressional approval for the National Security Educational Program. Linguists, diplomats, and strategists with language and cultural competencies are finally being produced by our higher education system at levels necessary to collaborate and compete on the world stage. Mr. Panetta served as Chair of the House Budget Committee; Director, Office of Management and Budget; and White House Chief of Staff. He and his wife, Sylvia, founded and lead the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy.

Mr. Whitney Reed

     Mr. Reed, who was the Commandant of the National Cryptologic School from 1986 to 1993 and NSA/CSS Deputy Director for Education and Training, is a lifelong champion of the foreign language community, with a special concern for military linguists. He developed a system of language training and maintenance at sites outside of DLI for the Navy, and adapted it for the Air Force. Today, that system lives on as the Air Force Exportable Language Training Program, which grew exponentially with Mr. Reed’s support. He also revised language training curricula to include current, authentic real-world materials in the classroom, making classes much more relevant to military linguists. Moreover, Mr. Reed was instrumental in bringing computer technology to language teaching. He provided the first infusion of computers into both NCS and DLI classrooms, and developed teaching guidelines to take advantage of their new capabilities. Perhaps most significantly, though, Mr. Reed impelled the Defense Language Committee to establish a realistic, measurable proficiency graduation standard of L2/R2/S2. To complement the new standard, he developed final learning objectives for the basic course that integrate proficiency, performance, and work-focused content domains to provide the Department of Defense qualified and motivated linguists for the critical security challenges that face our nation.

DLIFLC HALL OF FAME
  Selectees for 2007

The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) Hall of Fame Selection Board met on Sept. 4, 2007. The board considered 22 nominations, including linguists, instructors, policymakers, and private citizens, and selected five for induction into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 2, 2007. Selections were based on each individual’s contributions to language training and linguist employment in the Department of Defense (DoD).

The Institute is pleased to announce that the following individuals were selected for induction into the DLIFLC Hall of Fame:

Mr. Benjamin De La Selva

Benjamin De La Selva's linguistic career began in 1965 when he studied French at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California. After graduating from the French course he attended the Prisoner of War (POW) interrogation course at Fort Holabird, Maryland, and in August of 1966 was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, where he served as a POW interrogator and French lin-guist. He performed those duties side by side with South Vietnamese soldiers, earning their respect through his knowledge of intercultural values. After one year in Vietnam De La Selva returned to DLIFLC to learn Polish and then left the Army in 1968. With a Masters Degree in Education, he was hired by DLIFLC in 1972 as a teacher and writer of the new Spanish Basic course. In the next decade De La Selva served in almost every DLIFLC directorate, including one and a half years as the Provost’s Program Manager. In 1985 he became dean to the combined Asian and Korean school and over the following 20 years served as school dean, in charge of every major DLIFLC language program. He participated in many pioneering initiatives including Team Teaching, the Faculty Personnel System and the introduction of up-to-date teaching methods. Moreover, he led the development of much needed Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic curricula, and for four years was head of the DLIFLC Deans’ Council.During his rise from teacher to dean, he trained thousands of military linguists, guided several generations of language teachers, and mentored many supervisors and managers who now occupy leadership positions. He retired from DLIFLC in January 2005 and currently is the President of the DLI Alumni Association (DLIAA), a non-profit organization he founded. On April 5, 2006, California Representative Sam Farr entered De La Selva's name and achievements into the permanent record of the US House of Representatives (HR Document).

Mr. George X. Ferguson, Sr.

During WWII, then Capt. George Ferguson was a critical asset to many military missions through out his various assignments. During this time he used his language skills as a foreign contingent escort for dignitaries, chiefs of staff, cabinet ministers, and general officers visiting the United States. Additionally, his skills in both language and culture assisted with numerous military operations in Africa and Europe. Ferguson was instrumental in the then Army Language School’s dramatic increase in language teaching that expanded coverage from three to twenty languages in 1947. He was appointed as Chair of the Spanish Language Department in 1948 and later advanced to the position of Chair of the Romanic Scandinavian Division, which encompassed five languages, in 1948. He, and two others, co-authored and developed an innovative total immersion approach to language learning using processes patterned after the natural instruction techniques used by parents in teaching children to speak, read, and write. This method of total sensory learning condensed the time period to create a fully proficient linguist exponentially, and it is still in use today.

Mrs. Ingrid M. Hirth

Ingrid Hirth served for 17 years in varying capacities at DLIFLC. She was born in Czechoslovakia and fled with her family to West Germany at the end of WWII. She earned a Fulbright Scholarship and traveled to New York City where she studied French and English, which added to her previous knowledge of Czech and German. After her graduate studies in science and Latin at Frankfurt University she taught English, German, and computer programming in various countries throughout the world. She became a U.S. citizen in 1964. In 1982 Hirth furthered her lifelong desire to teach and was hired as a German Language instructor at DLIFLC. In 1984 she served as Supervisor of the German Gateway Program for three months and earned a “Special Act Award” for development of the German Basic Course syllabus and the creation of the Air Force Exchange Scientist Course Program of Instruction. Hirth was continually lauded by her students for her enthusiasm and love of teaching and in 1985 she mentored three additional German instructors which greatly reduced student attrition rates. She received Central European School Instructor of the Year honors in 1992 through her classes’ earning of an overall 96% pass rate on the Defense Language Proficiency Test. Hirth taught countless numbers of DoD personnel prior to her retirement as a Senior Instructor on Dec. 31, 1998.

Colonel (USA, Retired) Thomas Sakamoto

Col. Thomas Sakamoto was a member of the first graduating class at the Military Intelligence Service Language School at the Presidio of San Francisco. During his 28 year career as a military linguist he used his skills in many capacities. On one such assignment he provided crucial translation support to Brig. Gen. Thomas Chase, First Cavalry Commander. Then Tech. Sgt., Sakamoto quickly translated captured documents which provided the locations of massed Japanese troops. Chase used the information to order bombardment of the previously unknown enemy positions. Immediately following, he translated another document indicating a “Bonsai” attack within 24 hours. Once again, Chase initiated bombing of the Japanese by nine Destroyers and numerous B-29 Bombers. The flawless translations of the documents saved countless lives, led to the capture of the Los Negros Islands Naval Base and earned him the first of his two Bronze Stars. Sakamoto landed ahead of Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the occupation of Japan and provided translation during the Japanese surrender on the U.S.S. Missouri. Additionally, Sakamoto served as the official translator for President Eisenhower on his trips to Okinawa and was advisor to the Director of Intelligence for the Royal Thai Army in Bangkok, Thailand. He served in various other military intelligence positions including assignments at the Sixth Army Headquarters, Headquarters US Army in Vietnam and the Intelligence Headquarters Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff. Sakamoto was an Army Language School student in 1949-50 when he learned Russian and again in 1964 when he returned for the Thai Basic course.

Major (USA, Retired) Masaji Gene Uratsu

Maj. Masaji Gene Uratsu was a member of the first graduating class at the Army Language School at Crissy Field,Presidio of San Francisco. During his career as a Japanese linguist he was assigned as a trans- lator for numerous military operations during World War II. On one such appointment, he was assigned to the “Bushmasters” of the 183rd Combat Regimental Team in New Guinea were he earned his first Bronze Star by persuading a group of Japanese Soldiers to surrender without incident. He earned his second Bronze Star as a member of an Interrogation of Prisoners of War team. During this posting, then a Lieutenant, Uratsu led a signal monitoring team to the war’s front lines. The team was regularly bombarded during the four week endeavor. His leadership in this task ensured the completion of the critical mission with no loss of his assigned troops. Uratsu’s military career culminated in his three-year assignment as the Military Language Aide to the Civil Administrator of Okinawa. In that capacity he used his language skills to interpret for generals in their meetings with numerous visiting dignitaries and local newspapers. In January 1961, he assumed his final post as a staff officer of the Army Language School at the Presidio of Monterey until his retirement in April of 1962.