1 Introduction

The United States faced a language and cultural crisis of national security in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, which led to restrictions on overseas military operations. In response to this challenge, the US Department of Defense established a specialized agency in 2004 to conduct research and release the "Defense Language Transformation Roadmap", clarifying the direction for the transformation of foreign language work in the 21st century. In 2006, the Department of Defense further emphasized the importance of language proficiency in military training and provided financial support, marking the launch of the US military's new foreign language strategy. The new strategy has innovated in terms of war concepts, strategic planning, and implementation mechanisms to enhance foreign language readiness.

2. Concept update from foreign language literacy to practical ability

The demand for foreign language proficiency in the US military began during the War of Independence, and over time, foreign language education gradually shifted from individual training and management by each branch to unified management and guidance by the Ministry of National Defense. In the 20th century, the US military realized the importance of foreign language proficiency in military operations during multiple overseas expeditions, and foreign language literacy became a key competency for commanders. In military operations such as the Vietnam War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the US military has experienced a serious disconnect between the demand for foreign language talents and the current situation on duty. Foreign language proficiency has become the core combat capability of combat personnel. The connotation of foreign language literacy in the US military has undergone conceptual evolution, shifting from "peripheral knowledge related to military struggle" to the core area of "critical military operational skills". The foreign language practical ability strategy serves military strategy and national security strategy, including basic capabilities, emergency capabilities, and professional capabilities.

3 Integrated Multi dimensional Foreign Language Practical Ability Construction System

The US military's new strategy for foreign languages in the 21st century has established an integrated multidimensional foreign language combat capability building system through policy optimization and task refinement. The system is centered around "language," "region," and "culture," aiming to enhance the core combat effectiveness of the US military. The new strategy emphasizes "basic", "professional", and "emergency" capabilities, and implements capacity building synchronously through three styles: "strengthening", "maintaining", and "ensuring". The 2005 Roadmap, 2011 Strategic Plan, and 2014 Implementation Plan proposed specific actions and goals, which were implemented in parallel through education and training and human resource management to ensure the achievement of foreign language strategic goals.

4. Defense readiness first guarantee mechanism

In the new foreign language strategy of the 21st century, the US military has established a support mechanism that prioritizes combat readiness. Through policies and regulations, specialized responsibilities, standard testing, human resources support, combat readiness reports, professional guidance, institutional cooperation, and evaluation and debugging, a standardized work mechanism and implementation process have been formed. Among them, the combat readiness reporting mechanism ensures that the goals of foreign language combat readiness construction are matched with the future national security situation and military operation characteristics through normalized foreign language combat readiness assessments. In 2005, the "Roadmap" first proposed the concept of "language readiness", which made foreign language capability building an important part of military operation preparation work. Through language proficiency tests, the foreign language capabilities of each unit were regularly evaluated and compared with foreign language needs, revealing the gap between language reserve resources and actual needs.

5 Conclusion

The development strategy of China's national defense in the new era poses challenges to the construction of the military's foreign language capabilities, including implementing defensive national defense policies, fulfilling new era tasks and missions, and actively serving the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind. The challenges mainly lie in: 1) The new pattern of military diplomacy requires comprehensive, wide-ranging, multi-level, and diversified international cooperation, which requires personnel to understand the national situation and culture of the cooperating parties and achieve barrier free communication and exchange; 2) The intensification of international military competition requires high-level proficiency in foreign languages and comprehensive application abilities to gain insight into the strategic and tactical intentions of strong enemies; 3) The national defense reform requires optimizing the style and combat readiness path of foreign language capability building, and the existing educational resources and training paths are difficult to meet diversified needs. To meet the requirements of the national defense strategy in the new era, the military's foreign language combat capabilities need to be comprehensively expanded from three dimensions: basic, advanced, and emergency. Suggestion: 1) Update the concept and incorporate foreign language proficiency into the management of military professional ethics training, and carry out top-level design from the macro perspective of national security and military strategy; 2) Strengthen system construction, rely on educational research institutes and expert research, and construct a collaborative and integrated capacity building system from multiple dimensions; 3) Improve the mechanism guarantee to ensure the orderliness, standardization, foresight, scientificity, and readiness of foreign language proficiency building through normalized supporting mechanisms.