Pentagon Wises Up on Language Pay

THE DOD INCREASES INCENTIVE PAY FOR LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY.


My associate over at USC, Matt Armstrong, writes in MountainRunner that DoD has finally wised up and increased Foreign Language Proficiency Pay, a bonus given for having or acquiring a strategically important language.

I was watching a DVD of Band of Brothers the other night and at least one of the World War II paratroopers interviewed said he had joined the airborne—the jump out of a perfectly good aircraft into Nazi-occupied Europe airborne—because it bumped his pay. Perhaps this will give soldiers more incentive to do much less than this World War II vet.

Come to think of it, couldn't the IRS just tweak the tax code a bit and allow civilians to write off language education expenses? In fact, it already does, under categories like lifetime educational development, business expense and others. Consult your accountant first, but remember operators are standing by at your local educational institution. ...