Learning the language

When I served in Korea in 1993, I had my first extended contact with soldiers from other armies.

The U.S. Army forces in the Republic of Korea are augmented by the KATUSA program. KATUSA actually stands for Korean Augmentation to the United States Army.*

Naturally, the U.S. soldiers called the KATUSA soldiers simply "KATUSAs."

It was interesting to watch how the KATUSAs would break in new KATUSAs. They'd scream, yell, get physical to some degree -- and it was pretty intense. Much, much worse than Basic Training was when I went through. And much, much worse than what I hear about how Basic Training is today.

We'd watch the KATUSAs break in the new guys ... from a distance ... quietly, trying not to be seen. But, the KATUSAs were only like that to each other, and only -- so it seemed -- for a short period of time.

When a KATUSA served directly alongside the U.S soldiers, they were as fascinated by us as we were by them. We figured it was because our soldiers had an easier time of things. Not just by the way we were towards each other, but because our equipment was a lot newer and better.

One of the most interesting things was overcoming the language barrier.

Most American soldiers don't speak Korean. Oh, sure, everyone who serves there learns a few Korean phrases -- and some learn the language. But fall the KATUSAs know English. At least to a large degree.

However, everyday English is not as commonly known. Lots of slang isn't known. And, when they pick up slang, they may not always understand all the subtleties. And, that can lead to unintentional humor.

I remember once, I was speaking with a chaplain at Camp Hovey, and his assistant, a KATUSA, came into the room.

The topic of the chaplain HMMWV came up. And the chaplain asked about an issue with the vehicle. When an inspection uncovers a fault, and it's a critical fault, causing the vehicle to be classified as inoperable, it was commonly, though unofficially, called a "deadline" fault.

The chaplain was telling his KATUSA assistant to record the problem on the 2404, making sure he understood it was a deadline fault.

"Deadline" was unfamiliar to the KATUSA, who had picked up many other slang terms. He asked about that word.

The chaplain tried to explain, "It causes it to not be operational. You can't use it. It's a major problem, and we can't drive the HMMWV until it's fixed."

The KATUSAs face lit up. "Ah. Fucked up."

The chaplain paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. We call it 'deadlined."

The chaplain managed to teach a new, proper slang word to the KATUSA. And I got to practice not laughing out loud.

Secrets

I can keep a secret.

I had secret clearance when I was in the Army. A job needed it, they ran the checks, and I was given it.

There's a higher clearance level. There are lower clearance levels. Secret was the one I had.

What brought this up?

Did you hear about what Jimmy Carter said? According to the BBC, Carter told Israel's worst-kept secret: they have nuclear weapons.

Mr Carter gave the figure for the Israeli nuclear arsenal in response to a question on US policy on a possible nuclear-armed Iran, arguing that any country newly armed with atomic weapons faced overwhelming odds.

"The US has more than 12,000 nuclear weapons; the Soviet Union (sic) has about the same; Great Britain and France have several hundred, and Israel has 150 or more," he said.

Everyone knew Israel already had nuclear weapons. But no one in authority, with actual knowledge, ever said so.

The US, a key ally of Israel, has in general followed the country's policy of "nuclear ambiguity", neither confirming or denying the existence of its assumed arsenal.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert included Israel among a list of nuclear states in comments in December 2006, a week after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates used a similar form of words during a Senate hearing.

Former Israeli military intelligence chief Aharon Zeevi-Farkash told Reuters news agency he considered Mr Carter's comments "irresponsible".

As a soldier with a secret clearance, I was privy to some information that should remain ... well ... secret. Many others had a higher level of clearance and were privy to more sensitive information. And, what I had access to in no way compares to what the President of the United States has ... or what a former President had.

However, things I was told to keep secret, I've kept secret. And things I witnessed or otherwise became aware, that I wasn't told to keep secret, I've kept secret if I thought it was best.

In other words, I know when to keep my mouth shut.

Jimmy Carter doesn't.

Or maybe, just maybe, he does. Maybe he just tells more than he should when it meets his agenda.

Typical liberal Democrat.