Pentagon Reopens Program Allowing Immigrants With Special Skills to Enlist

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Want to become a citizen of the US? You can get it in 10 weeks if you have special skills and enlist with the US military. Boom!

I read this over the weekend and PRI the World just re-posted it on facebook so it reminded me of it. I'm surprised no one's posted it on here yet.

They've restarted the program recently and I guess they'd stopped it for awhile. I'm not sure when that happened but I can recall a few people on here that did that, and one person from Peru sticks out in my mind in particular because it was the first time for me learn about that, but I don't recall their username. Anyways if you have translation skills in desired languages such as Arabic, or if you're a dentist or a doctor from a foreign country, or have some other desirable skill set this could be a real possibility for US Citizenship for you.

Thousands of immigrants were so eager to enlist in the American military during the last two years, despite the strong odds that they could be sent to combat zones, that they signed a petition onFacebook asking the Pentagon to let them join.

Now they will have the chance. Late last month, the Pentagon reopened a program to recruit legal immigrants with special language and medical skills, which was active for a year in 2009 but was suspended in January 2010.

The program is small; it will enlist a total of 1,500 recruits each year for two years, mainly in the Army. But military officials said the yearlong pilot program brought an unusually well-educated and skilled cohort of immigrants into the armed services.

"Their qualifications were really stellar," said Naomi Verdugo, assistant deputy for recruiting for the Army. "And we have been very pleased about how these folks have been performing."

The program is open to immigrants on temporary visas, who otherwise would not be eligible to enlist. Its powerful lure is that it allows them to naturalize as United States citizens quickly, in most cases at the end of basic training, which lasts about 10 weeks. Most immigrants on temporary visas, whether they are students or workers with particular skills, must wait years — for some nationalities, more than a decade — to become citizens.

Read the rest here

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Want to become a citizen of the US? You can get it in 10 weeks if you have special skills and enlist with the US military. Boom!

I read this over the weekend and PRI the World just re-posted it on facebook so it reminded me of it. I'm surprised no one's posted it on here yet.

They've restarted the program recently and I guess they'd stopped it for awhile. I'm not sure when that happened but I can recall a few people on here that did that, and one person from Peru sticks out in my mind in particular because it was the first time for me learn about that, but I don't recall their username. Anyways if you have translation skills in desired languages such as Arabic, or if you're a dentist or a doctor from a foreign country, or have some other desirable skill set this could be a real possibility for US Citizenship for you.

Good idea. If you can fill a critical need like doctor or dentist why not. Green card holders are already eligible.

[Robby999 1,024]

I hope they plan on using an extremely rigid background check considering all the recent internal attacks from within the ranks in Afghanistan and the so called " workplace violence " that occurred at Fort Hood!