Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center

What does resilience look like in action? It looks like a battalion coming together to push through challenges, laugh off the stress and build bonds that go far beyond the classroom.

Last Friday, the 229th Military Intelligence Battalion paused the academic grind to celebrate Resiliency Day with the 229th Griffin Games. From fierce athletic showdowns to shared laughs on the field, the day was a reminder that our greatest strength is the person standing to our left and right.

Congratulations to all the competitors who left it all on the field!

📸 Spectacular action shots by SFC Solomon Chan

🏆Celebrating Our National Champions!🏆

Huge congratulations to seven of our Russian students (not pictured) who participated in the National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest, hosted by the American Council of Teachers of Russian!

After months of practice essays, the team competed in February and brought home quite the haul: 5 Gold Medals and 2 Silver Medals! This marks a record-breaking year for the highest number of top-tier awards our program has received at this national event.

Yesterday, during a change of command ceremony, Golf Company, 229th Military Intelligence Battalion, bid farewell to CPT Myeongeun Chong and welcomed CPT Garrett E. Godair.

We extend our deepest gratitude to CPT Chong for her dedicated leadership, guidance and commitment to Golf Company. We wish her the absolute best in her next chapter!

To CPT Godair, welcome to the 229th team. We look forward to your leadership as you take the guidon and guide Golf Company forward.

📸: Photos by SFC Solomon Chan

How do you take Arabic language training to the next level? You bring the international community straight to the classroom.

Thanks to our partnership with the International Graduate Programs Office at the Naval Postgraduate School, our Arabic students recently participated in an 1 ½ hour-long immersion sessions with three visiting foreign officers from Jordan, Egypt and Oman.

Speaking entirely in Arabic, the officers provided firsthand perspectives on their nations and militaries, giving our future linguists a unique chance to practice their listening and speaking skills in a real-world regional context.

Five miles. Soft sand. Full ACUs. 🥵

Yesterday, Bravo Company pushed through a 5-mile run in full ACUs. The route took them into the loose, unforgiving beach sand for a series of high-intensity conditioning exercises and calisthenics designed to build strength and endurance.

Outstanding effort by these leaders and Soldiers.

📸 SFC Solomon Chan

Medal of Honor Command Run 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🎖️

IWTC Monterey stepped into the long Memorial day weekend with an early-morning Command run and physical training session in the infamous Monterey fog.

The event was accented by a brief ceremony at the Presidio of Monterey Main Post Cemetery, where staff and students observed the reading of two Medal of Honor citations - Captain James Bond Stockdale and Boatswain's Mate First Class James Elliott Williams. Personnel took a moment of silence after each reading to reflect on the heroic actions of their predecessors.

IWTC Monterey honors our forebears this Memorial Day as we continue to instill their Warrior Ethos in the next generation of Sailors and prepare them to face every challenge with Honor, Courage, and Commitment.

Medal of Honor citations:
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/james-b-stockdale
https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/james-e-williams

📸 by CTI1 Daniel Adams

Emptiness has a sound.

To anyone who has ever stood in formation during a Final Roll Call on Soldier Field, it’s the heavy, sobering silence that follows when the Command Sergeant Major calls a name, waiting for a response that will never come.

This Memorial Day, we look at the empty spaces left behind and honor the memory of the fallen linguists and service members who gave everything.

Practicing language at a mock Russian travel agency. 1960's

This weekend, DLIFLC students tackled the grueling Norwegian Foot March—an 18.6-mile ruck with a 24-lb pack. Congratulations to all who earned this coveted badge!

Presidio of Monterey

We are just wrapping up our annual Language Day!

For over half a century, Language Day has been a cornerstone of the DLIFLC experience. Today, that tradition continued on Soldier Field with a fresh, community-focused energy.

Shifting away from the massive public festival format, this year’s event took the form of a bustling, vibrant cultural fair exclusively for our service members, staff and families. The spotlight turned to the individual language tents, where intimate conversations, shared stories, and family fun took center stage.