Falls Church-based General Dynamics will lead an effort to establish a national volunteer civilian corps of foreign language speakers who could be called on during emergencies.
The Department of Defense’s National Security Education Program awarded the firm a $19 million contract to run a three-year pilot effort establishing the corps.
Under the program, General Dynamics will recruit and train a corps of individuals who could be sent to foreign countries and places within the United States to help with communications during a disaster.
The program aims to attract at least 1,000 members initially and will focus on 150 high-need languages, General Dynamics spokesman Mark Meudt said Wednesday.
The National Corps of Language Professionals is a new organization, the feasibility of which was studied for years before the pilot program was implemented, NSEP director Robert Slater said Wednesday.
The group will test a structure in which a larger pool of corps members will be volunteers who are not required to respond to calls, though they will be compensated if they do, Slater said.
A smaller group will be contractually obligated for a specific time to go where needed, he said.
During the recruitment process, organizers will determine the extent to which individuals are willing to travel, whether they are willing to be deployed in combat areas and other variables, Slater said.
“I think the pool will define itself,” Slater said. “Some will be willing to go into areas that are risky, and some will not.”
General Dynamics will lead a team of experts in the areas of language-proficiency testing, marketing, and advertising and recruitment, Slater said. NSEP hopes that within 18 months to two years of the pilot, the group can determine whether the organization will become permanent.
