By Patrick Bray
DLIFLC Public Affairs
MONTEREY, Calif. – The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, Presidio of Monterey, California, opened the Office of Standardization and Academic Excellence Aug. 13.
The new office was established to help the institute to achieve its mission, which is to graduate proficient linguists to enhance national security.
Col. Phil Deppert, DLIFLC commandant, and Col. Keith Logeman, assistant commandant, cut the ribbon officially opening the office.
In his remarks, Deppert spoke about the importance of standardization in the military and for the academic institution.
He also said that DLIFLC is embarking on a decade of “firsts” as the institute is looking at the way ahead.
Col. Ginger Wallace, former assistant commandant, now at the Pentagon, was also instrumental in helping to establish the office, but her change of command took place before the opening.
“Congratulations on getting to this day. I know a lot of people worked hard to establish this office and I am glad to know that it has been finally realized. I firmly believe it will be key in taking an already outstanding institution to even greater accomplishments,” said Wallace.
DLIFLC is a large scale organization with a variety of practices and procedures within the various directorates. As the mission requirements increase, identifying best practices in teaching and leadership, and standardizing routine functions across schools will enable academic leaders to focus on implementing innovations and maximizing language teaching and learning.
DLIFLC is regarded as one of the finest schools for foreign language instruction in the world. The Institute provides resident instruction in 23 languages to approximately 3,500 military service members, five days a week, seven hours per day, with two to three hours of homework each night. Generally, students spend between 26 and 64 weeks at the Presidio, depending on the difficulty of the language.