Pierluisi Announces Success in Effort to Keep Puerto Rico National Guard English-Language Center Open

San Juan, Puerto Rico—Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi announced today that the effort he has led since 2014 to prevent the closure of the English Language Center operated by the Puerto Rico National Guard at Ft. Allen in Juana Díaz appears to be on a successful path.  The Language Center was scheduled to be closed starting in Fiscal Year 2016, but Pierluisi’s efforts resulted in the Language Center remaining open.  Now, the Resident Commissioner is pleased to announce that the Language Center will maintain operations in Fiscal Year 2017.  In addition, Pierluisi will continue to work with the Department of Defense to establish a Memorandum of Understanding that could potentially make the Language Center a satellite campus of the Defense Language Institute English Language Center, known as DLIELC, which is located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.  This would enable the Language Center to continue operations in Fiscal Year 2018 and beyond.

The English Language Center has been in operation in Puerto Rico, in one form or another, since 1976.  In those 40 years, it has proven to be a vital recruitment, retention and training resource for the Puerto Rico National Guard, whose soldiers and airmen are often deployed into combat zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, including more than 17,000 times since 2003.

The Language Center provides new recruits with the opportunity to participate in a rigorous English-language instruction program taught by experienced civilian English teachers from Puerto Rico.  While enrolled in the program, the recruits live at Ft. Allen for up to six months.  Among all state and territory national guards, the Puerto Rico National Guard is unique in that nearly all of its enlisted recruits are raised in Spanish-speaking households and are recent graduates of public high schools where classroom instruction is conducted almost exclusively in Spanish.  Accordingly, the English-language immersion program provided at the Language Center is both challenging and essential.  Between 300 to 500 Puerto Rico Army National Guard recruits enroll in the Language Center each year, which represents about half of the Puerto Rico Army National Guard’s annual recruits.  In total, since the Language Center was established, over 15,000 soldiers have graduated from the Center. 

“In late 2014, I learned that the National Guard Bureau planned to shut down the English Language Center starting in Fiscal Year 2016 and, instead, intended to send all Puerto Rico National Guard recruits who require English-language instruction to the Defense Language Institute’s English Language Center in Texas.  Because I opposed this effort, I sent letters to, and held meetings with, senior leaders of the National Guard Bureau, urging them to reconsider this decision and to keep the English Language Center open.  I was joined in this effort by the leaders of the Puerto Rico National Guard and by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who cares deeply about Puerto Rico and our national defense,” said Pierluisi.

“As a result of these efforts, the English Language Center remained open in Fiscal Year 2016 and now it will remain open in Fiscal Year 2017 as well.  I will continue working with the Department of the Defense and the National Guard Bureau, alongside allies like Senator Gillibrand, to transition the Language Center into a satellite campus of the Defense Language Institute English Language Center in Texas, which would enable the Language Center to continue operations beyond Fiscal Year 2017.  This would be the best outcome for Puerto Rico, for our military, and for our nation.  It is critical for the United States military to have a workforce whose members are linguistically and culturally diverse, and thus able to operate effectively in different military environments.  The English Language Center promotes that objective,” added the Resident Commissioner.

“The National Guard Bureau decision to answer our call and keep the center open is an important step to prevent the loss of numerous jobs and to continue to allow for Puerto Rican National Guard students to live near their families while they spend 6 months at the English language training center.  This will also help Puerto Rico maintain a strong National Guard presence and provide these fellow American citizens with the language training they need when they serve our country abroad,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.