Are military translators deployed into war zones? And which branch is best for translator benefits?

Trader G
#1. January 10th, 2010, at 6:44 PM.

All members of the military are eligible for deployment especially translators. The benefits are the same for all of the Armed Forces, the best living conditions are with the Air Force.
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Am
#2. January 10th, 2010, at 7:15 PM.

ALL branches have the SAME pay and benefits. The pay and benefits are given by the DOD, not the branch itself. Air Force does have the best housing as far as benefits go.

Of course interpreters go on deployment, and of course they go into war zones. Who else do you think interprets for those of us who don’t speak the native language.
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avalonadam
#3. January 10th, 2010, at 7:35 PM.

From a british army perspective, translator usually work in the Intelligence corps. Yes you will be sent to a war zone depending on your language skill. If you speak Korean you will almost certainly be sent to the DMZ in Korea , nice posting. However if you speak Arabic, Urdu or Pushtan you will go to Iraq and or Afghanistan. My advice from an old soldier is do not do it.
Don’t risk coming back missing bits of your body or blinded for a war in a country with ungrateful people and over something that doesn’t effect te USA. Better to use your language skills for the Immigration service. the pay is better and you will be helping defend you countries borders against people who should not be in the USA
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Former soldier and Immigration Officer

Mrsjvb
#4. January 10th, 2010, at 8:09 PM.

benefits are the same across all five Branches. yes Linguists deploy. and yes that can be to combat zones, although you would not necessarily be ‘in the field’
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HDH
#5. January 10th, 2010, at 8:35 PM.

Military translators are deployed to war zones. All the time. It’s where they are most needed (logically.) Some are in intelligence, and may not go out on patrols. Some are in intelligence and may go out on patrols sometimes, or even often (for certain teams.) Some are NOT in the intelligence field at all, but are native speakers of needed languages. ALL these native speakers do is go on patrols and operations and meetings with local officials.

To answer the rest of your question, I’d have to know more information about YOU. What program are you interested in? Are you already fluent in a language, or do want to go to the military’s language school in Monterey, CA? Are you a citizen of the U.S.? Do you have a high school diploma?

The benefits are the same for all services. The Army is probably offering the best enlistment bonuses right now, but even theirs are down a LOT since 2007. Since unemployment’s gone up, the military has had no problems getting its recruits.
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