[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 204 (Tuesday, December 19, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO COL. VLADIMIR SOBICHEVSKY

                                 ______


                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 18, 1995

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute a great military 
leader, U.S. Army Col. Vladimir Sobichevsky. The colonel retires from 
the U.S. Army this month after serving for the last 3 years as the 
commandant of the Defense Language Institute located in my district.
  A native of Russia, Sobichevsky fled the former Soviet Union with his 
mother in 1943. Settling in Germany, the two emigrated to the United 
States from a displaced persons camp in 1949. He enlisted in the U.S. 
Army just 7 years later, joining the first Special Forces group.
  At the time, Sobichevsky said he was motivated to become a soldier 
because you could earn U.S. citizenship by serving in the Armed Forces 
for 5 years. He recently told a reporter:

       I was going to join the Marines. I kind of fell into the 
     Special Forces. I was the dumbest kid you could've met, with 
     virtually no education, due probably to a poor start in life.
       I was standing in a drugstore in Geary Street in San 
     Francisco, reading a magazine, and I saw an article titled 
     ``The Apes of Rath,'' about Colonel Rath, who was putting 
     together the first Special Forces group. I thought they had 
     nice headgear, the green beret.
       I joined the Army without any idea of what I was getting 
     into. I began to realize it at the Airborne School at Fort 
     Benning (Georgia).

  And after nearly 40 years in uniform, there is little doubt that 
Sobichevsky made the right choice. Indeed, his career in the Army has 
been very distinguished. Completing three tours of duty in Germany, two 
tours in Korea, and one in Panama, Sobichevsky saw combat first in Laos 
as part of the White Star initiative and then in the Military 
Assistance Command Vietnam's Studies and Observation Group.
  After earning both bachelor's and master's degrees in government from 
the University of San Francisco, Sobichevsky also graduated from the 
Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College.

  After serving as operations director for the Special Operations 
Command, Pacific, Colonel Sobichevsky was transferred to the Defense 
Language Institute, which will mark its 50th anniversary next year as 
the premier military institution for foreign language instruction in 
support of national security requirements for all four military 
services.
  During his 3-year tenure at DLI, the largest language training 
institution in the world, Sobichevsky is credited with incorporating 
the school into the network of Monterey Bay educational and language 
facilities. DLI now works cooperatively with other Monterey Bay 
institutions of higher learning dedicated to foreign language training, 
including the Monterey Institute of International Studies and the Naval 
Postgraduate School. The consortium of institutions that provide 
graduate-level training in foreign language in the Monterey Bay area 
have a strong leader in Colonel Sobichevsky and DLI.
  More importantly, the commandant has improved the training at DLI. 
``Our goal is to have students achieve a Level II proficiency in 
listening comprehension, reading and speaking,'' Sobichevsky said. 
``That's not a native speaker, but that's pretty darned good.''
  According to Sobichevsky, while just 12 percent of DLI graduates had 
level II proficiency in 1985, 64 percent have it this year.
  ``I don't want to take credit,'' Sobichevsky modestly added. ``We 
built on the building blocks of previous commandants. The credit goes 
to the 650 faculty, seven school deans, 80 military language 
instructors. They deserve the credit.''
  As each student who has received language training at DLI will 
attest, Sobichevsky is to be commended for enhancing the language 
preparedness of its students. Colonel Sobichevsky is a soldier's 
soldier and deserves the Nation's heartfelt appreciation for his 
military service.

                          ____________________