Pentagon says it needs more foreign recruits
Will offer road to citizenship for up to 1,000
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced yesterday that it will recruit as many as 1,000 foreigners living in the United States on temporary visas - including to study or work - in an unprecedented effort to fill critical shortages of medical personnel and foreign-language specialists.
The year-long experiment, approved by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, was determined "vital to the national interest" at a time when the military is meeting its overall quotas but lacks sufficient numbers of doctors and nurses to treat wounded troops and needs more troops with foreign-language skills to help navigate diverse cultures.
The US military has long accepted noncitizens who are permanent residents of the United States and hold green cards. The new effort, which has been under consideration for several years, allows the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force to tap into the thousands of foreigners studying in the United States temporarily as legal aliens.
"The bottom line is that the Department of Defense has a critical need for qualified healthcare professionals and people with language and associated culture capabilities," said Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman. "Legal aliens have enriched our forces by supporting our nation in previous wars, and their unique backgrounds are especially valuable in today's global war on terror."
There are about 29,000 noncitizens serving in the military in return for expedited citizenship. Some national security leaders have been wary of opening the ranks to more foreigners, fearing what Max Boot, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, calls a "nativist backlash."
Boot, who has long advocated recruiting more qualified noncitizens into the military, said yesterday's announcement is a good start.
"It is a recognition of there are a lot of people who want to serve who could make a significant contribution," Boot said. "We need soldiers who can interact and understand local populations without a translator. I wish the program were larger, but I am glad they are at least opening the door a crack and hope it will open more in the future."
Gates, who President-elect Barack Obama announced this week will stay on as defense secretary, is using special authority granted in a 2005 law that some outside groups have criticized, saying the Pentagon would essentially be using mercenaries to defend the country, could jeopardize national security, or at the very least reflect poorly on Americans' willingness to serve in uniform.
But top Pentagon officials have concluded that the need for medical personnel and linguists fluent in 35 languages including Arabic, Hindi, Farsi, and Somali is too important to pass up a willing pool of highly qualified foreigners who want to earn their citizenship through military service. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, nearly 43,000 have become citizens while in the military.
The Army in particular has had trouble recruiting medical professionals in recent years, including missing its goals for applicants for medical and dental scholarships in exchange for military service. The Air Force has blamed less pay in the military than the private sector and a more stressful work environment.
A variety of innovative programs to beef up the ranks have helped, but not enough to fill the requirement for 24,000 medical professionals across the armed forces, officials said yesterday.
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 must have also have traveled outside the United States no 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.
Thomas Donnelly, a military specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the move, first reported by the Associated Press, has larger implications than simply helping the Pentagon.
"It helps to bring mainstream acceptance of what the aspirations of pretty much all immigrants are," Donnelly said. "It is hard to think of anything that is more obviously patriotic than military service, particularly in wartime. This will help reframe the immigration debate in a constructive way."
Bryan Bender can be reached at bender@globe.com. 