Foreigners answer call to US service

Military efforts to recruit specialists gets big response

WASHINGTON _ When the Pentagon announced in December that Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates had ordered the military to recruit a small number of foreign citizens to cover for shortages in certain specialties, personnel officials didn't know what to expect.

Now, as the effort gets underway to enlist nearly 900 foreign-language specialists and medical professionals who hold visas to study or work in the United States, personnel officials have their answer: There are likely to be more volunteers than they can handle.

By the middle of February, the Pentagon's public communication line had received more than 300 inquiries - currently up to four a day, officials report - while recruiting stations around the country have been inundated with hundreds of additional calls and visits from young men and women from countries as diverse as Iraq, Lithuania, and India eager to earn their American citizenship through military service.

But many of them, like Linas Tumasonis, a 23-year-old student from Lithuania at the Georgia Institute of Technology, will likely be passed over because they either do not qualify or live too far away from the recruiting centers. "I was interested in applying on the basis of my foreign language skills," said Tumasonis, adding that earning a green card and ultimately citizenship was "a huge factor."

But since the language specialists are only being recruited in New York City, "I'm not going to pursue this opportunity," he said.

The enormous response so far highlights an untapped resource that could be critical to filling severe shortages in the military of doctors and nurses and people who speak languages such as Arabic, Hindu, or Pashtun that could prove crucial to operating in foreign countries.

There are already about 29,000 legal immigrants serving in the US military in return for expedited citizenship. However, the new yearlong program for the first time allows foreigners who are studying or working in the United States on a temporary visa to join if they meet certain requirements.

The program, designated by Gates to be "vital to the national interest," is being managed by the Army, which is seeking to recruit up to 557 individuals with certain foreign language and cultural skills, and another 330 who are doctors, nurses, or other medical technicians.

While the foreign-language specialists are being recruited only in New York, recruiting offices across the nation, including in Boston, are seeking to fill the medical slots, officials said.

To be eligible under the program, applicants must have lived legally in the United States for at least two years as a refugee, asylum seeker, or under other so-called "temporary protected status," or have been in the United States for the same period on a student or work visa.

They also cannot have traveled outside the United States for more than 90 days in the two years prior to enlistment, according to a Defense Department fact sheet on the program.

The medical personnel accepted under the program would be required to serve at least three years on active duty and foreign language specialists would be required to serve four years.

But it appears that there will be many more interested in the program than the Army can accommodate, while others may simply fall through the cracks.

Idrees Hazzaa, an Iraqi living in Philadelphia, arrived in the United States as a refugee two months ago. He said he worked as a translator for US forces in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 and says he is hoping to apply for the program even though he has only been in the United States a few months.

Ike O.Madubuike, a medical doctor who moved to Dallas from Nigeria in 2002, said he believes "joining the military is way to serve the country."

"I have experience in surgery, emergency medicine," he said in an interview. "If I am given a chance and attached to a medical unit I can help." But one problem likely to keep him out: he is 49 years old.

Others contacted by the Globe said they are having trouble finding the right office.

"As a foreigner living legally in the United States, I am having difficulty reaching anyone to offer my services," said Roland, who is living in Boston but declined to provide his full name out of fear it will affect his current employment.

"Army recruit offices that I have contacted have no directives or information."

Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com.