Army Transfers Middle Eastern Interpreter Program to Fort Huachuca

Since 2007, the Army has been developing Fort Huachuca, in Arizona, as a new center for human intelligence training. The center, called the Center of Excellence for Human Intelligence Training, serves soldiers from all branches. Soldiers who graduate from the center are certified intelligence specialists. 

Now, the Army is transferring its Middle Eastern interpreters and translators program to Fort Huachuca. The Middle Eastern interpreters and translators program was previously located at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Six civilian positions, previously attached to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California, will also be moved. It is hoped that transferring the Middle Eastern language program to Fort Huachuca will help the Army to avoid duplicating the efforts of the instructors in the human intelligence program, who also train interpreters. Soldiers will move by the end of January.  

The interpreters and translators program has been located at Fort Jackson since 2004, when it was instituted as a pilot program. The program trains soldiers in several Middle Eastern languages, including Dari and Pashtu, languages which are spoken in Afghanistan. After they complete their training, interpreters are assigned to commanders, helping units assigned to the Middle East to better communicate with the local community members and helping soldiers in their units to better understand the culture. 

Families moving to the Fort Huachuca area may find the following resources useful:

• Fort Huachuca maintains its own website with information about employment and recreation, as well as frequently asked questions about the Fort. 
• Military.com has an installation guide for Fort Huachuca with lists of jobs, schools and universities, information about the fort commissary and base exchange, and other useful resources.
• The chamber of commerce of nearby Sierra Vista offers a relocation guide to the area, including lists of schools, job resources, transportation, churches, newspapers, and shopping centers. 
• The Sierra Vista Herald has local news and information. 
• Extra Space has facilities in nearby Tucson for families who want to store their personal effects. Storage units at Extra Space are free for the first month.