Remembrance Sunday’s long march past the Cenotaph in Whitehall included the RAF’s Linguistic Association, which was apparently formed in the 1950’s. The post of linguist is actually as an intelligence analyst, abbreviated as - Int An (L). It involves interpreting, analysing and disseminating intelligence.
“You will listen to intercepted foreign voice transmissions, using state-of-the-art receiving and recording systems. From this you will provide valuable intelligence about actual or potential adversaries and their strengths, weaknesses, movements and locations. There is also the opportunity to act as an interpreter for troops on the ground, translating from native speakers. You will learn at least one foreign language to a high degree of proficiency and will spend much of your RAF life honing these skills or learning new ones.”
Languages include just about every language on the planet, and although listening to Nepalese or Bhutanese intelligence may be problematic, it is at least very thorough. It should also be noted that MI5 have a language section. They Claim:
“Whether spoken by millions or whispered by a few, we know the power of language. MI5 needs people who can speak, understand and listen to a wide range of languages and dialects. The ability to work in one or more language is a vital skill which helps us in our daily efforts to keep the country safe. As a Foreign or English Language Analyst you will be listening to and analysing a wide range of audio material which will assist and support our teams of investigators. Not only do our Foreign Language Analysts listen, translate and analyse information, they also provide expert insight into a country’s culture, political landscape and history.”
The RAF require applicants who:
Must have been a citizen of the United Kingdom since birth or a dual British Irish citizen.
Be aged 17.5 – 47 years old (Must attest before 48th birthday)
Attendance at a specialist interview, briefing and testing is mandatory for all candidates. This will include the Modern Languages Aptitude Test (MLAT) and an interview with Phase 2 Training Instructors.
A UK driving licence is desirable.
There is also a fitness test, including a 2,4 km run and numbers of press-ups and sit-ups within 60 seconds. This is quite apart from the body mass index requirements for all RAFD candidates.
MI5, on the other hand, set up a listening challenge. They say:
There are few jobs more rewarding – or important – than these front-line intelligence roles. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, our team of English Language Analysts listen to lawfully intercepted telephone conversations and eavesdropping product, picking out essential information that will help us counter terrorism across the UK.
They come from a wide range of backgrounds – but they all have the ability to process information quickly and the adaptability to work in an operational environment where things change rapidly. They’re the kind of people who don’t miss a thing, who can listen for hours on end without losing concentration and stay calm under pressure.
We have developed a quiz that reflects the nature of the work of our English Language Analysts to enable you to assess your suitability for the role. Take this challenge to check your listening skills and ability to recall detail.
Try it. Go to https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/opportunities/languages scroll down the page and you come to Listening Challenge and click to begin from there.
This is just an English Language Test. One would have to be extremely fluent in a foreign language if doing a similar test; however, given the technology available, in particular to military and covert organisations, most conversations of the kind that would interest these services, would be recorded, even those taking place in the open where directional microphones can be used. So memory and attention to detail, although important, are greatly assisted by replay.
Of course, the Air Force and MI5 are not the only organisations listening to the world. The Navy and the Army are just as involved and will have their own people, as, of course, the CIA, the SVR RF or Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации, successor to the KGB. If you cannot read the Cyrillic it’s: Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii.
The French currently have ten active agencies: DGSE, DGSI, DRM, TRACFIN, DRSD, BRGE, DCPJ, CNCTR, SCRT and SNRP. One need only go to Wikipedia for a list of security agencies round the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_intelligence_agencies.
There are jobs galore for linguists of every description, and as to the technicians, one need only look at the List of intelligence gathering disciplines: HUMINT, GEOINT, MASINT. OSINT. SIGNINT, TECHINT, CYBINT/DNINT. FININT. There is also, cryptanalysis, meteorological intelligence, operations security, spy satellite and traffic analysis (This is probably associated with TEMPEST which is a US National Security Agency specification and a NATO certification referring to spying on information systems through leaking emanations, including unintentional radio or electronic signals, sounds and vibrations. TEMPEST covers both methods to spy upon others and how to shield equipment against such spying).
As to traffic, the invisible electronic traffic through the air is clearly vast. I would guess one only has to have the appropriate antennae or sensor to be deluged with conversation to sift through. So much listening by so many organisations with such little result in understanding. It is not surprising that listeners briefed to hear one specific thing miss out on so much else that might be of real value to a more united world. These organisations are not customer service centres set up to deal with complaints or requests in order to improve the customer’s situation. They are set up to infiltrate, disrupt and eliminate. They are the guardians of power with a remit to find any and all threats against that power, all the while claiming it is for the security of the citizen.
Indeed some of it may be concerned with security of the citizen, and it may be that there is so much animosity in the air that it is easier to try to crush it rather than alleviate it. Some would try to do both, but the amount of emphasis and money placed on crushing adversity far outweighs the emphasis on alleviating and eliminating the causes of adversity.
Speaking of adversity, it has now been confirmed (I think) that the Governor of Arizona will be Katie Hobbs and that Kari Lake’s Trump supporting, election denying, Trump sponsored effort has been eliminated. It is not quite over, but it is over. There are a variety of videos on YouTube and elsewhere showing her speaking and attacking the press and election officials of the State of Arizona, but not a thing about any policies (other than so called lection reform) which might deal with the problems faced by the people of Arizona.
1,128,046 of 6,654,096 residents reported income levels below the poverty line in the last year.
The poverty rate in Arizona is 17.0%. One out of every 5.9 residents of Arizona lives in poverty. Arizona ranks 43rd in Poverty Rate at 17.0% (poverty rankings by state). The poverty Rate of Arizona is moderately higher than the national average of 14.6%.
The saddest part of the Republican Party is their complete lack of desire to discuss the pressing needs of the citizens they purport to represent. Whenever you see Kari Lake addressing a crowd she goes on about election mismanagement and attacks on the media who dare to question her grasp of reality. It was only about getting elected on the basis that she was an acolyte of Donald Trump. There was no discussion of what she proposed for the citizens of Arizona. There was no discussion whatsoever of what she would do to deal with the problems of unemployment, homelessness (although low by comparison to other states) or poverty and the serioust social problems resulting. This was across the board. The sole message was the democrats are demons and only we can save our country. Save the country from what? Platitudes and aggressive rhetoric were all that the Republican Party represented. Fists in the air, and opponents get out. Trump himself extoling violence against dissenters, a mantra picked up by the likes of Kari Lake, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and many others. The hardliner approach to representation. We are kickass people. How is it that so many Americans not only swallow this nonsense but appear to admire it? Kari Lake received 49.6% of the vote. That is only just short of Katie Hobbs’s 50.4%.
The even sadder thing is that this attitude seems to be catching. In the United Kingdom, Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s expressing her dreams of deporting thousands of refugees to Rwanda is an instance in point. Taking a tough line has become de rigueur. Isolationism is the current concept of good governance.
Gordon Brown has written an opinion piece in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/15/nationalism-world-crisis-rishi-sunak-joe-biden-g20 - It is well worth a read.
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