United States Forces Korea (USFK) utilizes Language Weaver Edge to break down language barriers

Secure, machine translation (MT)-enabled chat helps the 2nd Infantry Republic of Korea-United States Combined Division overcome the language barrier between its 10,000 American and South Korean personnel
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The client
United States Forces Korea (USFK)
Industry
Aerospace and Defense
Solution element
Language Weaver Edge
At a January 2021 United States Forces Korea (USFK) technology conference, General Robert Abrams (retired) was overheard speaking to his South Korean Command counterpart saying, “Our countries have been doing exercises together for 70 years now. Why do I still need to call a translator when I get an email from you?”

Challenges

  • Translate documents between Korean and English quickly and to a high quality 
  • Provide instant translation within the US Army’s chat client software 
  • Provide a secure translation solution to all personnel

Solution

Results

  • Document translation time reduced from up to 2 months to 1 day 
  • Instant chat translation for all 
  • Translation quality improvement – quicker resolution of issues and fewer misunderstandings

An initiative to break down language barriers was born that day!

Challenge

 
With the growing threat of aggression in the Pacific region, effective real-time communication between non-English speaking allied militaries is crucial for maintaining peace and stability.
 
US military forces stationed in Korea work closely with Korean Army personnel and Pacific allied foreign militaries to deter aggression and maintain peace. Joint military operations have been increasingly common in recent years as countries seek to pool their resources and coordinate their efforts to address shared security challenges. By working together, joint forces can leverage their collective strengths and overcome the limitations of individual countries, making them a more effective and efficient force.
 
US forces were facing a language barrier with their Korean military counterparts. The availability of translators is limited, and interpreters are reserved for the highest levels of command. Email, chatbots, secure radio transmissions and face-to-face communication are often hindered by the language barrier if a translator is unavailable.
 
Teams often wait months for documents to be translated, delaying comprehension and communication. The risk of miscommunication was increasing and contributing to ineffective joint exercises.
 
To facilitate better and faster communication, USFK was looking for a solution that:
 
  • Translates text and documents from Korean to English and from English to Korean
  • Connects with instantaneous chat software for seamless integration into the joint force command and control communication infrastructure
  • Is an on-premises solution that meets strict security requirements
  • Scales to support high translation demand (hundreds of thousands of words per minute)
  • Allows instant, real-time translation for all personnel, down to the lowest levels when communicating in English

Solution

 
Several testing and review cycles took place during live joint exercises as the military evaluated Language Weaver Edge. USFK found that Language Weaver Edge can be embedded in their existing communication infrastructure and allows for seamless communication between all participants, regardless of their native language, which led to smoother and more effective joint exercises.
 
The US military has strict cybersecurity requirements and a comprehensive authority to operate (ATO) process. Language Weaver Edge met all the criteria for a secure on-premises solution.
 
After a successful evaluation, USFK determined that Language Weaver Edge is the best solution for their needs and migrated the test environment to production on the day of license acquisition.

Results

The software, designed for military use, allows USFK personnel to communicate with other military personnel from different countries in real-time and with minimal delays. Security in the region is enhanced by improved situational awareness and faster force coordination.

Translation is no longer a resource just for the senior leadership. Personnel at all levels can translate at any time into English and Korean and with high quality, further enabling communication and cooperation between forces. Now, the use of existing human translators is optimized so they can focus on where they are needed most.

Thanks to the improved agility, the existing localization resource pool can translate more documents, emails and other written materials in the same amount of time, enabling higher comprehension and a faster exchange of information between US and Korean military forces.

The acquisition of the software is a major step toward breaking down language barriers and enhancing communication and collaboration during joint exercises, ultimately serving the USFK’s mission of protecting the region.

Key benefits for USFK

  • Improved situational awareness
  • Real-time communication with minimal delays
  • Multi-force support on existing classified and unclassified networks
  • Issues resolved more rapidly and with fewer misunderstandings
  • Faster document translation enables higher comprehension
  • Maintained and supported by US Army 1st Signal Brigade
  • Personnel at all levels can translate into English and Korean as needed and at any time
  • Language barrier knocked down!

Key facts & figures

  • Deployment: Days
  • Chat translation turnaround time: Instant
  • Personnel using Language Weaver Edge: Thousands of military personnel on the Korean peninsula
  • Document translation turnaround time: Grown from 2,000 words per day per localization resource to 2,000 words per minute
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