Can National Guard Soldiers get Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus (FLPB) Pay? Yes! This is the same extra pay that you can get as a National Guard Soldier as your active duty counterparts.
1. Who is Eligible for FLPB Pay?
In order to be eligible for FLPB pay, you must be in one of the two following criteria:
- Be proficient (have DLPT score of at least 1/1) on at least one of the languages on Payment List A.
- Have MOS, Branch, CMF, AOC, or FA on AR 11-6, Chapter 4–4, a thru c. And be proficient (have DLPT score of at least 1/1) on at least one of the languages on Payment List B.
Department of the Army Strategic Language List
- PAYMENT LIST A - Authorized for all PMOS/Branches
- IMMEDIATE INVESTMENT LANGUAGES
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Arabic-Levantine | AP | QAV
- Arabic-Yemeni | AU | QAY
- Baluchi | BT | BAL
- Pashtu-Afghan (Pushtu) | PV | PBT
- Persian-Afghan (Dari) | PG | PRS
- Persian-Iranian (Farsi) | PF | PES
- Somali | SM | SOM
- Urdu | UR | URD
- EMERGING LANGUAGES
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Acholi | AH | ACH
- Amharic | AC | AMH
- Azerbaijani | AX | AZE
- Bengali | BN | BEN
- Burmese | BY | MYA
- Hindi | HJ | HIN
- Kirghiz | KM | KIR
- Punjabi (Western) | QP | PAN
- Tadjik | TB | TGK
- Uzbek | UX | UZB
- PAYMENT LIST B - Restricted to ONLY language capable and language dependent MOS/Branch
- ARABIC: Region 1
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Moroccan | BS | ARY
- Algerian | DH | ARQ
- Tunisiah | BW | AEB
- Libyan | AL | AYL
- ARABIC: Region 2
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Egyptian | AE | ARZ
- Sudanese | AV | APD
- ARABIC: Region 3
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Saudi Arabian | AN | QAS
- ARABIC: Region 4
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Lebanese | AQ | QLB
- Jordanian | AK | QAJ
- ARABIC: Region 5
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Iraqi | DG | QAG
- "4 + 1" Languages
- (LANGUAGE | DIGRAPH CODE | TRIGRAPH CODE)
- Chinese-Mandarin | CM | CMN
- Korean | KP | KOR
- Russian | RU | RUS
AR 11-6, Chapter 4–4. Language capable and language dependent military occupational specialties and career management fields for foreign language proficiency bonus purposes only
Language capable and language dependent MOS and Career Management Field (CMF) for FLPB purposes only include:
a. Enlisted:
- 00S
- 00Z: Nominative Command Sergeant Major/Sergeant Major
- (limited to those with a 18, 35, 37, 38 CMF background)
- 09L: Interpreter/Translator
- 35L: Counter Intelligence Agent
- 35M: Human Intelligence Collector
- 35N: Signals Intelligence Analyst
- 35P: Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Voice Interceptor
- 35Y: Chief Counterintelligence/Human Intelligence Sergeant
- 35V: Chief Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Sergeant
- 35Z: Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Senior Sergeant/SIGINT Chief
- CMFs
- 18: Special Forces
- 37: Psychological Operations
- 38: Civil Affairs
b. Warrant officer:
- 180A: Special Forces Warrant Officer
- 351L: Counter-Intelligence Technician
- 351M: Human Intelligence Collection Technician
- 351Z: Attache Technician
- 351Y: Area Intelligence Technician
- 352N: Signals Intelligence Analysis Technician
c. Officer:
2. How Much Will I Get Paid for FLPB?
You will get paid based on AR 11-6, Table 4–2 (Foreign language proficiency bonus payment table).
Table 4–2 Foreign language proficiency bonus payment table
| DLPT Score | Payment list "A" | Payment list "B" |
| 1/1* | 100* | 50* |
| 1+/1+* | 150* | 75* |
| 2/2 | 200 | 100 |
| 2/2+ | 250 | 125 |
| 2+/2+ or 2/3 | 300 | 150 |
| 2+/3 | 350 | 175 |
| 3/3 | 400 | 250 |
| 3/3/3** or 4/4 | 500 | 300 |
- * Qualified Soldiers only. See paragraph 5-2 to determine if Soldiers qualify for sub 2/2 proficiency FLPB.
- ** Only paid when the linguist achieves a 3 on OPI to verify their speaking capability.
- Note: Any equivalent combination of DLPT scores may be used. For example: "2/2+" is the same as a "2+/2." A DLPT score higher than "3/3" but less than "3/3/3 or 4/4" (for example, 3+/3) is paid at the "3/3" level.
References:
- HRC Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus Page: https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Foreign%20Language%20Proficiency%20Bonus
- Current Department of the Army Strategic Language List (ASLL)
- AR 11-6 Army Foreign Language Program: https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/r11_6.pdf
A national guardsman told me he was denied FLPB (for Levantine Arabic) because he is not TPU or IMA. So it might be more complicated to actually get FLPB than this post implies
ReplyDeleteHi Coley,
DeleteThank you for your comment. Arabic-Levantine is one of the IMMEDIATE INVESTMENT LANGUAGES, and he/she is eligible for the FLPB. There are "drilling" or M-Day soldiers who get the FLPB pay per regulation.
The frustrating thing is that not a lot of leadership know about or understand how FLPB works, unless it is a MI unit. I would recommend starting at the lowest level of leadership, and keep going up the chain of command to get the pay issue resolved. Have them refer to AR 11-6.
It is a persistent problem in the guard that you have to fight for yourself to get the pay and benefits in the regulation. Leaders cannot be aware of all the regulations, but they need to work harder to take care of their soldiers.
Thank you very much for the reply.
DeleteI looked at AR 11-6 here (https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/r11_6.pdf)
I see on page 16 it says "b. ARNG and USAR Soldiers must—
(1) Be in either a drilling TPU or individual mobilization augmentee (IMA) paid status, “AGR,” or on active duty
orders (ADOS)."
It seems to be saying that a reserve or guard soldier must be on TPU or IMA stats or be deployed/ADOS to qualify for FLPB?
Is there another part of AR 11-6 that supercedes or clarifies this? Just wondering what exactly to point to in the document.
Thanks!