A Silent Cacophony highlights an Army Times online story about increasing extra pay for soldiers proficient in certain languages considered vital for strategic or tactical reasons.

In August, the Army sharply raised the cap on Foreign Language Proficiency Pay from $300 a month to $1,000 a month for active-duty soldiers and $500 a month for those in the National Guard and Army Reserve.

The maximum monthly pay for proficiency in a high-priority language, such as Arabic, Chinese, Persian Farsi or Korean, is $400. To qualify for that monthly payment, a soldier must score 3s on two parts of the Defense Language Proficiency Test.

To receive a top-end monthly payment of $1,000 or $500, a soldier must demonstrate proficiency in more than one of the languages on the Defense Department and Army eligibility lists.

It’s been traditional to award soldiers with special or unique skills with extra pay, both as a means of recognizing their contribution and as a way of encouraging others. Nice going US Army! ‘Bout time.

Now, about those gay translators….

NB: for you young'uns out there "talking turkey" doesn't mean "speaking Turkish" but rather refers to mameloshin.