FY2025 Marine Corps Language Professional of the Year and Command Language Program of the Year Nominations

1. Purpose. Per the references, this MARADMIN solicits nominations
for Fiscal Year 2025 Marine Corps Language Professional of the Year
(LPoY) and the Marine Corps Command Language Program of
the Year (CLPoY). 

2. Background. The LPoY and CLPoY awards recognize the
contributions of Marine Corps language professional and language
capable Marines and Command Language Programs (CLPs) during FY25.
The Marine LPoY and CLPoY winners will also be the Marine Corps
nominees for Department of War (DoW) LPoY and CLPoY. The DoD LPoY
and CLPoY boards will occur at the Defense Language
Institute-Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), Monterey,
CA during July 2026. 

3. Execution. LPoY and CLPoY nomination packages from the FMF
require endorsement from the first O-6 in the nominees chain
of command. An awards board comprised of a diverse panel of
language professionals within DC I will convene during June
2026 to review nominations and select winners. 

3.a. Marine Corps Language Professional of the Year (LPoY). 

3.a.1. The Marine Corps LPoY award is designed to identify and
recognize outstanding Marine language professionals and their 
accomplishments as well as highlight the critical role that
Marine linguists play in supporting the warfighter mission.
LPoY nominations are open to active-duty and reserve Marines who
meet the criteria below and whose linguistic knowledge and
abilities provided outstanding support directly to operating
forces. Marines from any MOS who meet the criteria are eligible
and encouraged to apply. Eligibility for this award is as follows: 

3.a.1.a. Nominees must be in grade E-6 or below and a member of the
active or reserve component. 

3.a.1.b. Nominees must have certified language proficiency of
Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) level 2 or higher on at least
two modalities (listening, reading, speaking) via the Defense
Language Proficiency Test (DLPT) or Oral
Proficiency Interview (OPI). 

3.a.1.c. Nominees must meet Marine Corps Waist-to-Height Ratio and
physical fitness standards. 

3.a.2. Nominations for Marine LPOY must be unclassified and received
by HQMC Intelligence Division NLT 5 June 2026.  Nominees actions
must have taken place from 1 October 2024 " 30 September 2025.
Actions outside this date range will not be considered. 
Packages must include: 

3.a.2.a. Unit Commander nomination memorandum,
endorsed by subsequent 
members of the chain of command. The memoranda should detail the 
nominees accomplishments and contributions to the mission as well
as to the Command Language Program. The nomination will
specifically address the criteria that qualify the candidate
for this esteemed award. 

3.a.2.b. A copy of the nominee's current Foreign Language
Proficiency 118 remarks, Basic Training Record (BTR), or
similar official documentation of FY25 DLPT scores for each
language tested. Test scores not valid during FY25 will
not be considered.  

3.a.2.c. An essay (not a research paper -- footnotes/references are
not required) by the nominee, not to exceed five double-spaced
pages, 12 point Arial font, addressing the following topic:
"What strategies can linguists use to balance operational
requirements and life demands while maintaining or improving
language proficiency?" 

3.a.3. Submission guidelines, package template, and previous
example packages can be found at https://go.intelink.gov/FLP
or by emailing the Foreign Language Program organizational
mailbox (foreignlanguageprogram@usmc.mil). 

3.b. Marine Corps Command Language Program of the Year (CLPoY). 

3.b.1. The Command Language Program (CLP) of the Year competition
is designed to recognize outstanding CLPs, and to reward them for
their accomplishments. CLPoY nominations are open to any command
wishing to recognize outstanding CLPs for accomplishments
during FY25. 

3.b.2. CLPoY nomination packages must be unclassified, shall not
exceed 12 pages, and must be received by HQMC Intelligence Division
NLT 15 May 2026. Nominees actions must have taken place from
1 October 2024  30 September 2025. Actions outside this date
range will not be considered.  

3.b.3. Packages must include the following information and adhere
to the nomination package template: 

3.b.3.a. Commander's Description of the Units Program. 

3.b.3.b. Command Language Program Council. 

3.b.3.c. Regulatory Guidance. 

3.b.3.d. Linguist Database and Record Keeping. 

3.b.3.e. Training Resources. 

3.b.3.f. Instructional Methodology and DLPT Results. 

3.b.3.g. Training Opportunities. 

3.b.3.h. Program Evaluation. 

3.b.3.i. Linguist Retention and Incentives. 

3.b.3.j. Marketing the Command Language Program. 

3.b.3.k. The Command Language Program Manager. 

3.b.4. The basic document which will be used to evaluate the
nominations and the CLPs, is DLIFLC Pam 351-1, Evaluation
Guidelines for DoD Command Language Programs, 28 November 1995.
A copy of this document, the package template, and previous example
packages can be found at https://go.intelink.gov/FLP or by emailing
the Foreign Language Program organizational mailbox
(foreignlanguageprogram@usmc.mil). 

3.c. Per the references, the Marine Corps LPoY awardee and CLPoYP
awardee representative will be present at the DoW LPoY/CLPoY
recognition ceremony during the 2025 Advanced Command Language
Program Manager Workshop (ACLPM), which will take place
15-17 September 2026 virtually. 

3.c.1 In addition to being recognized, the Marine Corps LPoY will
present a 5-minute Best Practices presentation to
workshop attendees. 

3.c.2 In addition to being recognized, the Marine Corps Command
Language Program Manager (CLPM) or representative will present a
10-minute Best Practices presentation to workshop attendees.
Presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint will be due to the POC no
later than 7 August 2026. 

3.d. Submit all nomination packets via email in PDF format to
ForeignLanguageProgram@usmc.mil. 

4. Direct all questions to MARADMIN POC.