704th linguists compete in Joint Language Wars

Photo By Sgt. Maj. Juan Munoz | Linguists competing in the Joint Language Wars participate in a game of Jeopardy May 15 at Fort Meade, Md. The Joint Language Wars pits linguists from different services against one another during a weeklong competition as the service members test their language skills in games such as Jeopardy, 20 Questions and a scavenger hunt.  

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD, UNITED STATES

05.16.2014

Story by Sgt. Amy Christopherson 

704th Military Intelligence Brigade

FORT MEADE, Md. - Top linguists of the 704th Military Intelligence Brigade competed in the second annual Joint Language Wars May 12-16 at Fort Meade, Md., and for the second year in a row the brigade won the competition.

The event, which was originally known as the Language Olympics, was revived by the 704th in 2013 after being cancelled in 2005. This year, the Air Force’s 707th Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance Group hosted the competition with the assistance of the 704th.

The Language Wars pitted Army linguists against their Air Force and Navy counterparts in six major languages: Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, Russian and Persian-Farsi. Teams of two competed against other teams in their language in games such as Jeopardy, Impromptu and 20 Questions to accumulate points toward a final score.

Staff Sgt. Heather Zujkowski, the 704th MI Bde. command language program manager assistant, said the competition is a good opportunity to interact with the different services.

“It’s good training and a learning opportunity not just for the competitors but also for the organizers and proctors,” she said. “We had the chance to compare things like our mentorship program with the other services and see how we could improve.”

Army teams took first and second place in four of the six languages.

Sgt. Tito Medina, with Alpha Company, 742nd MI Battalion, said that while the competition was fun, it was also a learning experience that helped him identify his strengths and areas to focus on.

“While I learned that I need to spend time learning more about cultural details, the competition also brought out my strength in vocabulary in various levels of my target language,” he said.

Medina placed second in Persian Farsi with his teammate. He agreed that one of the best aspects of the event was interacting with the other services.

“This is a great program for joint operating bases,” he said. “It was a good opportunity to build camaraderie with linguists from the other services and compare notes with people that we don’t normally interact with.”

• Date Taken: 05.16.2014
• Date Posted: 05.27.2014 11:07
• Story ID: 131169
• Location: FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD, US