Modern Standard Arabic still 'leading second language' for US Marines

Modern Standard Arabic is still the leading language to learn for US Marines, despite a massive withdrawal of forces from Iraq in 2011.

At the Defense Language Institute located south of San Francisco, the US military's premier foreign language training centre, some 3,000 service members learn a variety of foreign languages.

There are 250 marines currently studying Chinese, French, Levantine Arabic, Arabic Modern Standard, Indonesian, Korean, Pashto, Persian-Farsi, and Russian, among others.

Modern Standard Arabic has around 40 students, by far the most popular language.

"The military always prepares for the last war, not the next one," Sean Connery, a former Marine Arabic linguist who served nearly two years in Iraq, told Military Times.

"I am not surprised that Arabic is still the largest class at DLI for Marines."

Many of the students studying Arabic are future intelligence analysts who go on to work in electronic warfare and signals intelligence, where language skills are key.

Prior to the invasion of Iraq there were two entire platoons of marines dedicated to Arabic out of a total of four units, Military Times reported.

Despite a huge withdrawal of forces from Iraq in 2011, and other threats from North Korea, China, and Russia, the language priorities of the marines have remained steady since the 2003 invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.

"I'm not sure I can predict exactly what role the Marines could end up playing, but the US is a long way from achieving its national security objectives in the Middle East," Jennifer Cafarella, an expert in the Islamic State at the Institute for the Study of War, told Military Times.

"Elite American forces are correct to continue to prepare for contingencies."

Last year, a detachment of around 400 marines were deployed to Syria to provide artillery support for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The US military also relies on thousands of local civilian contract linguists to aid its forces on the ground, notably during its military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.