Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102
§1596 Foreign Language Proficiency: Special Pay for Proficiency Beneficial for Intelligence Interests
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 81 — CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES › § 1596
Summary
Secretary of Defense can give extra pay to a DoD civilian who is certified in a foreign language the Secretary says is important for foreign intelligence and who uses that language in an intelligence job. Secretary sets the yearly amount and it may be added to pay under section 1602.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §1596
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Secretary of Defense may pay special pay under this section to a civilian officer or employee of the Department of Defense who—
(1)has been certified as being proficient in a foreign language identified by the Secretary of Defense as being a language in which proficiency by civilian personnel of the Department is important for the effective collection, production, or dissemination of foreign intelligence information; and
(2)is serving in a position, or is subject to assignment to a position, in which proficiency in that language facilitates performance of officially assigned intelligence or intelligence-related duties.
(b)The annual rate of special pay under subsection (a) shall be determined by the Secretary of Defense.
(c)Special pay under this section may be paid in addition to any compensation authorized under section 1602 of this title for which an officer or employee is eligible.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2000—Pub. L. 106–398 substituted “Foreign language proficiency: special pay for proficiency beneficial for intelligence interests” for “Foreign language proficiency: special pay” as section catchline. 1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–201 substituted “section 1602” for “section 1604(b)”. 1990—Pub. L. 101–510 renumbered the second section 1592 of this title as this section.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–201 effective Oct. 1, 1996, see section 1635 of Pub. L. 104–201, set out as a note under section 1593 of this title.
Effective Date
Pub. L. 101–193, title V, § 501(b), Nov. 30, 1989, 103 Stat. 1708, provided that: “section 1592 [now 1596] of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the first day of the first pay period beginning on or after the later of— “(1) October 1, 1989, or “(2) the date of the enactment of this Act [Nov. 30, 1989].”
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 1596
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102