The number one priority for a soldier in the United States Army is mission accomplishment. The mission is the reason the Army places such substantial emphasis on the Soldier's three core skills; Physical Readiness Training (PRT), weapons qualification and MOS training. When these essential skills are missing among Soldiers, the mission suffers. Army linguists have a fourth core skill that sets them apart from all other soldiers: language. These language skills are what they provide to the mission; therefore, the Army should place the same emphasis on developing this skill as it does on the Soldier's other core skills. Every morning, Monday through Friday throughout the Army, Soldiers wake up before the sun and conduct PRT. This has been the case for as long as most soldiers can remember. Ask a Sergeant Major if they would ever consider not conducting PRT on a daily basis and you will likely spend the next 15-20 minutes in the forward leaning rest position thinking back to the question you just asked. The PRT is the foundation of military service. Soldiers are expected to be fit to fight, fit to perform their duties, and fit to complete the mission. Therefore, the Army attaches a lot of importance to the PRT. When a soldier is out of shape and cannot meet the standard, the Army makes every effort to bring him back to standard, to return him to combat, or to remove him from the Army when all efforts are exhausted. The same can be said for weapons. qualification. Any Soldier who has been in the Army for any period of time has likely had the honor of spending an entire day on the range waiting for a Soldier who is struggling to qualify with their assigned weapon. Soldiers train and mentor that individual. Leaders are there to provide time for linguists to conduct language training just as they do for the Soldier's three other core skills. It should no longer be more important for a Soldier to sweep a fleet than to conduct language maintenance. Most leaders will agree that they would not replace PRT time with busy work. Why do they do this with language training? All soldiers must continue to fight to fight. Linguists are no exception. The emphasis on language training must mirror or exceed the emphasis on PRT, weapons qualification, and MOS training to keep our linguists fit to fight. Language training can no longer take a back seat. Leaders must make every effort to ensure that Soldiers get the same opportunities and mentorship in language training that they receive in other core Soldier skills. It is the only way to keep the fighting force more effective in the future.