Editors note: At James' request, his last name is omitted from this article because of security considerations related to his assignment as a translator in Iraq.

Second Lieutenant James M is no stranger to success, nor to breaking new ground.

Assigned to the Fort Lewis Language Center, James has a long list of achievements; the latest was one of historic proportions.

Previously a staff sergeant, James took a commissioning oath at the Language Center on Dec. 30, making him the first translator/interpreter (09L military occupation specialty) to become an officer.

Making the occasion even more noteworthy was that his commission was a direct one, meaning that it happened largely because of recommendations he received from high-ranking Army personnel endorsing it.

James said he was working full time as a civilian in the U.S. when he saw a newspaper ad seeking linguists shortly after 9/11. Wanting to make a difference, he enlisted in the Reserves and was deployed to Iraq immediately upon completion of training.

Accomplishments during his deployment included setting up the Iraq Police budget for 2006, conducting various project assignments at IP departments, translating more than 1,000 slides during the historic Iraq elections and serving as the sole interpreter for an entire military police brigade.

It was a year loaded with long hours and hard work, but not without an occasional bout of fun. James admits he was amused by his position at times, noting the value of an interpreter.

"I used to see this argument happening between the officers over who would take me on a mission the next day," James said. "I was only a specialist, but everybody was fighting for me, so you can imagine how that made me feel."

James' value proved to be even greater when he returned from Iraq.

After realizing the importance of having an ability to speak Arabic, James volunteered to remain on active duty. He was assigned to the FLC, where his expertise was crucial in setting up the Language Enabled Soldier program.

Director of the FLLTC, Yvonne Pawelek, described James as a vital part of the program, which teaches deploying Soldiers cultural awareness through realistic scenarios and learning how to speak Arabic.

"Besides just being a good leader, he was a subject-matter expert on culture, and he did a lot of training with the Soldiers on role-playing and preparing them for exercises," Pawelek said.

As NCOIC of the LES program, James prepared hundreds of deploying Soldiers since coming arriving in 2006.

"He's plowing new ground because the MOS is new," Pawelek said. "Because he was in the second class and considered senior, he's kind of an expert in terms of what it should be," Pawelek said.

James said his experiences in Iraq are among the many reasons he fully backs the LES program. Without it, he said, Soldiers end up relying heavily on an interpreter - to the point of the interpreter working extremely long days and sometimes becoming almost ineffective.

James recalled numerous occasions when he spent hours translating on one mission, only to be pulled out by someone who needed him to translate something such as directions.

"Lets put it this way," said James, ... "when I was downrange, I almost burned out as a native linguist."

Soldiers who go through the LES program learn how to perform their duties without needing a linguist. James teaches them how to communicate basics such as greetings, checkpoints, cordon and search, tactical questioning and asking for directions.

"They're given anywhere from six to 10 months - depending on when the unit is deploying - to get to a level to where they can communicate," James explained. "Rather than be burned out and used for more minor missions, these LES Soldiers could do the job."

Being NCOIC of the program was a position that has evolved into more of a passion, and one that he will miss, James said. However, he's looking forward to what the future holds for him as a military intelligence officer.

"As an MI officer, I hope to achieve something that will really make a difference," he said. "I don't know what. ... I just take it one day at a time."

Pawelek said James will be a valuable asset wherever he goes, but hopes that someday he returns to work at the Language Center.

"I think with his language ability and his various studies, he's going to make a huge contribution to the MI field," she said. "It would've been a waste of his talents to just have him go into any other MOS."