Navy cryptologic linguist professional#

Navy cryptologic linguist professional#

Shortly thereafter, Coates was selected as the 2011 Marine Corps Language Professional of the Year, later being chosen as the 2011 Department of Defense Language Professional of the Year from among all four branches of the United States military.Īccording to a Marine Corps message, regarding Coates' Marine Corps recognition, a panel of senior language professionals selected Coates from a list of 'highly competitive nominees from units throughout the Marine Corps.' However, he did retain proficiency, which was extremely beneficial to his unit when he returned.īecause of his outstanding performance, Coates received a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal in recognition of his selection as Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion Language Professional of the Year, as well as a Joint Service Achievement Medal, his second, for the beneficial impact of his work throughout his time at his unit. Upon returning in January 2011, Coates assumed a squad leader position while resuming his support of Overseas Contingency Operations.Ĭoates explained that his duties did not allow him to practice his language skills while deployed with his team, and that it is generally difficult to retain language proficiency when that happens.

In his time there, he provided support to the Global War on Terrorism and Overseas Contingency Operations, eventually deploying to a cryptologic support team in July 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. For his follow-on training, Coates was stationed with the Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion in Fort Gordon, Ga. Zachary Coates, is a Middle East Cryptologic Linguist who hails, from Kansas City, Kan.Ĭoates enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 2006 and graduated from the Modern Standard Arabic Basic Course in August 2008. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center student, Marine Sgt. ‐ One Marine student here was recently recognized as the Department of Defense Language Professional of the Year.