British Army 'Sending
Students To Iraq'
BBC News
2-18-4



The Army is reportedly paying students £200 a day to put their degree courses on hold and fly to Iraq to work as Arabic translators and interpreters.
The pay includes danger money, and the students have to wear flak jackets and helmets, according to The Times.
The students sleep at Basra's British military compound, in rooms with six to eight bunks, and wake at 0600 GMT for a full Army breakfast, the paper reports.
And they take crash courses in military jargon, Iraqi dialects and behaviour.
Each recruit is assessed at Westminster University.
The Army's Defence School of Languages in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, is employing Iraqis to help prepare the undergraduates.
Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Rabbitt told the newspaper: "This is to make sure they know the difference between a tank and a fish tank, and what it means when you talk about armoured cars.
"Some people think an armoured car is what the Pope is driven around in."
Once in Iraq, the students interpret for Iraqis on Basra's streets and translate newspapers and documents.
'Gap year'
Laura Culley, 21, of Weymouth, Dorset, said she and her female friend were approached by recruiters from Kellog, Brown & Root, a subsidiary of US multinational Halliburton, a civilian contractor working for the Ministry of Defence, at Exeter University's Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Her father, Andrew, a police officer, said: "She has always been extremely independent-minded and has effectively taken a gap year to work for the military in Iraq.
"They are obviously quite desperate for Arabic speakers over there," he added.
"Her language skills are increasing enormously."
© BBC MMIV
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3498307.stm
 

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