Fluent Forces Act

The Fluent Forces Act would designate the act’s short title and codify findings about the importance of language proficiency and cultural expertise for U.S. national security. It emphasizes the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) as a central training institution and highlights the Foreign Area Officer program as a key part of military readiness. The core new requirement is a mandated, annual assessment (through 2030) of Department of Defense recruiting practices aimed at increasing attendance at DLIFLC. Each assessment must analyze which public and private secondary schools are being targeted, how many recruited individuals who enlist or accession ultimately enroll at DLIFLC, and the challenges and opportunities in recruiting from those schools. It also requires recommendations to improve recruitment methods, procedures to document high school engagement, and measurable progress benchmarks, with data disaggregated by local educational agency for public schools.