Vnuchka Memoirs, Part VIII

Starting Life Over in Monterey, CA

The language programs at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, are like no others that I know of. Students go to class 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. It’s like going to college but only studying one subject. Homework can add another 3 hours of study in the evenings. There were weekly tests, Unit tests, and a final at the end of the year. These tests are all important and failing any of them brings punishment and embarrassment. Rules and hours change from time to time, but the first time I went to DLI for Basic Russian, the weekly tests came with an incentive. If you scored 90% or higher, you got Friday afternoon off. The tests were given at 10 a.m. and if you passed, you were free at 11! Remember, I had already studied Russian for 2 years in high school, so I pretty much got every Friday afternoon off. This was especially important in Monterey, since the days tended to be sunny until a fog rolled in around 3 p.m., which just happened to be the end of the school day. So at least on Fridays, I was out enjoying the beach or Fisherman’s Wharf or walking south to my favorite spot on the Monterey Peninsula: Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove. Once winter started, the base tours office offered tours to Lake Tahoe for skiing. The bus left at 1 p.m. Friday and came back Sunday afternoon, so only the “smarties” could go. That’s how I learned to ski. As a specialist 4, I didn’t make much money, but the Army took good care of us back then. We paid $20, which included transportation, lodging, meals, equipment, and lessons, along with a ski pass. I went every chance I got, unless there was a special event in Monterey. I’ll write more on this topic later.

Almost all the students in Basic Russian had come right after high school, so aged 18 or 19. Since I had been in the Air Force for 4 years and already had a Bachelor of Arts degree, I was older and better educated than most of my fellow students. Out in the Army in the real world, males made up over 80% of the force, but at DLI, it was pretty close to 50/50. Considering the age and mostly single population, you can imagine that romantic complications ensued. While I was home after the Air Force and before joining the Army, I had met and fallen in love with Vanessa, who would eventually become my first wife. We wrote lots of letters, but didn’t call much because back then, there were no cell phones and long-distance calls by land line were expensive. So I didn’t get pulled into a romantic relationship that might have distracted me from studying Russian.

Attrition was high. It’s funny the Army used the same word for failing at DLI as they did for combat losses in war. For some students, the cost was high. Weekly failures led to monitored, mandatory study hall. Failure of monthly tests could lead to recycling - being sent to a new class a month or two behind, meaning instead of finishing in a year, you would finish in 14 to 18 months. If teachers and military personnel thought recycling wouldn’t help, you could just be kicked out of the program and be sent out to take whatever job the Army chose for you. The Army tended to blame the students for failing, since we were heavily tested and screened before selection. In other words, if you failed, it was your fault. You would be made an example for other students who might not be working as hard as they should. Typically, wash-outs would be sent straight to training for infantry, or cook, or laundry and bath specialist. Some people would get REALLY lucky and just be moved to an easier language. The people who received this treatment usually had some sort of influence - daddy was an officer or politician, or there was a cadre-student relationship. That was only possible the first year I was there. In subsequent years, the rules for fraternization were extremely strict and punishment was harsh. In some circumstances, the senior ranking person could be demoted or even discharged from the Army.

In the Air Force, I was stationed in eastern New Mexico. It wasn’t beautiful and there wasn’t much to do. That’s why I wound up going to college and finishing my bachelor’s degree. In the Army, except for Ft. Hood, I was sent to beautiful places and I spent most of my spare time off base in taking advantage of the places I was stationed. I did that in Monterey. It was the first place I fell in love with and it still has a special place in my heart. After I retired from the Army, I would have lived there, but it was just too expensive. By then I was married with two kids and a third on the way.

When I finished Basic Russian, I had a good working knowledge of the language and could read and listen at the Upper Intermediate level. Speaking was not taught simply because we were going to be “listeners” - intercepting Russian radio communications for intelligence purposes. It was an extremely important and sometimes exciting job during the Cold War.