Can U.S. service members legally conduct business in a foreign language? Please include any references.?

Question

UCMJ .. Can U.S. military members legally speak in foreign tongue while chit chatting in the office?

Answer 1

Official Army business must be conducted in English.
I believe it's AR 611-600 but don't remember for sure. (The guy that runs the MOS library will be able to tell you the reg # if I'm wrong.)

If they're conducting language maintenance, it's within regs.

If they're speaking their native tongue, it isn't really addressed by the reg as far as I can remember. If it's on Army time though, they should be conducting Army business and therefore it should be in English.

Talk to your legal specialist at BN if the reg still doesn't cover it.

Answer 2

I served as an interpreter for 13 months while on Active Duty.

I regularly conducted US Army business in foreign languages, including signing contracts written in that language and conducting official business conversations with two civilian employees, among others, in their native language.

It was what I was hired to do, and doubt that military units can operate outside the US without someone doing that, so I doubt there's a regulation against it.

Answer 3

This has nothing to do with UCMJ.


For those who don't know how to look up regulations and prefer just to use conjecture in answering questions about the Army, here is the official word from AR 600-20, Army Command Policy. This is the commander's bible on all things to do with his unit, and I use it frequently. I'm cutting and pasting directly from the PDF, thus the formatting will be screwy. Deal.


"English is the operational language of the Army. Soldiers must maintain sufficient proficiency in English to perform
their military duties. Their operational communications must be understood by everyone who has an official need to
know their content, and, therefore, must normally be in English. However, commanders may not require Soldiers to use
English unless such use is clearly necessary and proper for the performance of military functions. Accordingly,
commanders may not require the use of English for personal communications that are unrelated to military functions."

Answer 4

there is a difference between Military Business and chit chatting. there is no regulation specifically forbidding the usage of any language other than American while not conducting offical business in the workplace.

now, it may be a local command policy that only American may be spoken in the workplace under any circumstances, but nothing inthe UCMJ about it.

Answer 5

Well the Army does offer free Rosetta Stone language courses ;)