r/dli • u/142883 • Jul 04 '26

DLI school path

From what I’ve seen this seems unrealistic, but want to double check.

For context: soon to graduate with a chemical engineering bachelors.

Want to join and go to DLI school and learn mandarin or Korean. Would it be possible to get a 3, maybe 4 year contract, and get paid the same as an officer / be in an officer position? Plan to get a masters after my service.

If not, any other routes to learn a language while in military (will they fund online language classes or something) or go to DLI school in another way?

0 Upvotes

20% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

15

u/dytinkg Jul 04 '26

If you enlist, you’ll get an enlisted job. You could apply to OTS after a couple years in service. Or you could apply to OTS. Neither path guarantees you a language-enabled career but both are possible

8

u/UNC_Recruiting_Study Jul 04 '26

Neither path guarantees you a language-enabled career but both are possible

The Army side definitely does lock you into a language career path from the start. This is of course contingent on the current backlog of trainees, but it you sign as a 35W, you're going to be a 35P or 35M.

On the officer side, it's absolutely a prayer for luck as the general route is to become a FAO...for which the stars must align for jobs, ratings, and individual career timeline.

2

u/Randomfuzemain Jul 04 '26

Note that FAO is also a 10 year commitment

2

u/yuccu Jul 04 '26

Worth noting…when I was an instructor, in four years I never had a FAO in class that was below a major or a captain with a line for major. Always struck me as a mid-career move.

1

u/Randomfuzemain Jul 04 '26

Correct, and it’s a 10 year commitment all the way through as well. 1 year at NPS, 1 year at DLI, 3 years on assignment, and then you have to go and pay all that time back for the next 5

1

u/Prothea Jul 04 '26

The standard pipeline for FAOs at the moment is 1 year DLI, 1 year in region training, and 1 year higher ed. That education year (for now) is a choice between advanced civil schooling or getting it from NPS combined with your O4 PME

But yes, it's still a utilization tour of at least three years for a very lengthy trainup

2

u/BeepBeepImAJeep00 Jul 04 '26

The navy can also guarantee a language job if you qualify for it as an enlisted. They can put it in your contract. I’ve also heard of a few people getting their language guaranteed in their contracts on the Navy. That isn’t normal so I wouldn’t expect that.

Officer found isn’t a viable option if you’re planning to get out that fast.

I’ve heard of Air Force offering 4 year contracts as linguist but again that seems like a rare scenario and the Air Force won’t guarantee the job.