From the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television series, 1950-1975
"The story of the U.S. Army Language School which provides a program for training officer and enlisted personnel to meet Army requirements for linguists in at least one foreign language. As pointed out in the film, today forty percent of the U.S. Army serves throughout 73 different foreign countries. The contacts with the nationals of those countries offer both a challenge and an opportunity. Irrespective of rank and whether engaged in official duty or off-duty social pursuits, the overseas serviceman has become an important participant in the contest to win international friends. The most potent weapon in that struggle is language - the tool of direct communication. The film, after a close-range look at the operation of the school at the Presidio of Monterey, California, concludes by saying that with "language" as an instrument for building understanding and friendship we can look forward to closer ties with both the friendly and uncommitted nations of the world."--National Archives and Records Administration
