li U IA i L t v - ) -

MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

Ev ent : Int erv i ew of Margaret Gulot t a, FBI Sect i on Chi ef, L anguage Serv i ces Sect i on,
Offi ce of Int ernat i onal Operat i ons, EAD for L aw Enforcement Serv i ces
Type of ev ent : Int erv i ew
Dat e: May 10, 2004
Speci al Access Issues: None
Prepared by: Caroli ne Barnes
Team Number: 6
L ocat i on: FBI Headquart ers
Part i ci pant s - Non- Commi ssi on: Assi st ant General Counsel Robert Si nt on
Part i ci pant s - Commi ssi on: Mi ke Jacobson, Caroli ne Barnes
Background. Gulot t a has been wi t h t he FBI for 34 years, most of t hem i n L anguage
Serv i ces (L S) . She st art ed i n 1981 as a superv i sor of t ranslat i on st aff at FBI
Headquart ers.
Language Services Structure. For years L S was i n t he L aborat ory Di v i si on, t hen i t was
mov ed bri efly t o t he Cri mi nal Inv est i gat i v e Di v i si on (OD) , t hen t o t he Inv est i gat i v e
Serv i ces Di v i si on, and t hen t o L aw Enforcement Serv i ces. In pract i ce, L S has always
support ed CID and t he nat i onal securi t y si de of t he house equally. Gulot t a beli ev es t hat
t he current set - up i s t he best t o dat e. There has been some t alk of mov i ng L S i nt o t he
Offi ce of Int elli gence. Gulot t a beli ev es t hat Maureen Bagi nski , t he EAD for Int elli gence,
i s at t empt i ng t o do for i nt elli gence what Gulot t a has done for L S. Gulot t a beli ev es she
has been effect i v e because she owns t he t rai ni ng, admi ni st rat i on, et c. for all of t he
li ngui st s. Gulot t a beli ev es a mov e t o t he Offi ce of Int elli gence would bri ng t he analyst s
and li ngui st s closer t oget her. The hi gher grade li ngui st s (GS- 12 and GS- 13) are really
language analyst s; t hey are more t han just t ranslat ors. Gulot t a beli ev es t hat t he agent s,
analyst s and li ngui st s need t o work as a t eam. Current ly, t he language analyst s are
necessari ly locat ed where t he work i s, whi ch makes worki ng as a t eam more compli cat ed.
Data Management System. In t he past , t here were no L ocal Area Net works (L ANs) .
Before 9/11 t here was a plan t o net work ni ne offi ces usi ng Spi dernet . It was t o be called
Arachnet and was t o be operat i onal by 9/01. The net work was funneled t hrough t he
World Trade Cent er, so 9/11 caused t he work t o be st opped for a t i me. The syst em was
replaced by Red Wolf, whi ch manages just audi o dat a (i .e., t he majori t y of t hei r work) .
Now, ev ery fi eld offi ce i s up on Arachnet , whi ch i s separat e from FBINET and on an
i ndependent WAN. Because i t 's not on FBINET, Arachnet work has t o be copi ed ont o
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FBINET. Thi s i s changi ng and needs t o so t hat t he i nformat i on get s t o t he ri ght people.
A lot of t he li ngui st s don't necessari ly know comput ers, so hav i ng sev eral di fferent
syst ems makes t hei r work ev en harder.
The "Casa de Web" i dea became EDMS, t he EL SUR Dat a Management Syst em (t hi s wi ll
be i n use by t he end of 2005) . Users can v i ew all collect i on for a case i n chronologi cal
order, so a li ngui st can work on all aspect s of a case. In t he past , di fferent li ngui st s i n
di fferent places would work on di fferent aspect s of a case. Analyst s and agent s can see
all of t hi s i nformat i on as well. Wi t h t hi s syst em t he work can be assi gned t o li ngui st s by
subject rat her t han only by FISA. EDMS does not hav e a st at i st i cal report i ng capabi li t y.
They are put t i ng money i nt o t he syst em t o t ry t o accelerat e t he creat i on of t hi s capabi li t y.
What i s i n EDMS can go easi ly i nt o VCF (t he Vi rt ual Case Fi le syst em current ly under
dev elopment ) i f need be t hi s i s all part of FBINET. There i s a bi g push ri ght now for
st andardi zat i on t o make t hi s t ransfer of dat a easi er; t here i s a new t hree day t rai ni ng and
fami li ari zat i on program.
Linguist Workforce. There are 1300 li ngui st s i n 50 fi eld offi ces. The li ngui st s aren't
always where t he work i s and t hat wi ll nev er change. The goal i s 100 % cov erage on all
FISAs and t hey are at t hi s poi nt for some languages. The FBI i s hi ri ng more cont ract ors
t han federal workers i n part because Congress i s prov i di ng more fundi ng for t he former.
The FBI would rat her hav e t wo feds for ev ery cont ract or t han t he rev erse. The only
lev erage t he FBI has wi t h cont ract ors i s t o fi re t hem, t hough t hey can use t hem when t hey
need t o "surge" on somet hi ng and t hen can let t hem go when t hey don't need t hem.
Si nce 9/11, t he FBI has been offeri ng i t s new fed slot s t o i t s cont ract ors fi rst .
On av erage, cont ract ors work 29 hours/wk, so t he work of t wo cont ract ors i s equi v alent
t o t he work of one fed.
The FBI has doubled t he number of li ngui st s wi t hout t he commensurat e space,
superv i sors or i nfrast ruct ure. Congress has recogni zed t hi s and recent ly approv ed 20 new
i nfrast ruct ure posi t i ons (not e: I t hi nk t hese are t he regi onal superv i sory li ngui st posi t i ons
di scussed below) . The FBI i s aski ng for 45 of t hese posi t i ons for 2005.
Wi t hi n t wo mont hs of 9/11, t he FBI had 20,000 appli cant s for li ngui st posi t i ons; now
t hey hav e 50,000. 70 percent of new hi res cannot pass t he language t est (li st eni ng,
t ranslat i ng, Engli sh) . Ten appli cant s yi eld only one hi re. The mai n obst acle i s oft en t he
Engli sh t est . The FBI loses 40 percent from t he polygraph t est , t hen loses addi t i onal
appli cant s based on t he background i nv est i gat i on.
Gulot t a does not beli ev e t hat t he FBI has hi red people "t oo fast ." She sai d t hat t he FBI
has not "ev er" sacri fi ced t he process t o get people on board. Aft er 9/11, t he FBI was i n a
hi ri ng freeze. The Admi ni st rat i v e Serv i ces Di v i si on put t oget her a t i ger t eam t o focus on
hi ri ng li ngui st s, and t hi s i s how t he FBI was able t o bri ng so many li ngui st s on board so
qui ckly. It i s t he case t hat new hi res di dn't get great securi t y t rai ni ng ri ght away, so t hey
may not hav e known all of t he rules, et c.
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For t he CT and CI li ngui st cont ract ors t he FBI has i nst i t ut ed a "Post Adjudi cat i v e Ri sk
Management Program" i n 2002, whi ch i nv olv es t aki ng a polygraph i n t he fi rst year.
There hav e been some li ngui st s who hav e come out decept i v e or i nconclusi v e, but no
more t han i n t he t ypi cal populat i on (11 of 3- 400 washed out ) . Thi s program was
i mplement ed because hi ri ng cont ract ors i nv olv es great er ri sk t han hi ri ng feds, not
because t here hav e been si gni fi cant problems. Most li ngui st appli cant s hav e si gni fi cant
forei gn t rav el and connect i ons. Ev ery li ngui st i n t he federal hi ri ng process ri ght now i s a
exi st i ng cont ract or.
Relationship Between Linguists and Agents/Analysts. The agent s hav e always been
v i ewed as t he "owners" of t he case i nformat i on so t hey do t he fi nal mi ni mi zat i on rev i ew
of t he li ngui st s' t ranslat i ons. The FBI's Offi ce of General Counsel i s looki ng at t hi s
si t uat i on now because i t would be easi er for t he li ngui st s t o conduct t hi s fi nal
mi ni mi zat i on rev i ew. They usually do i t anyway.
To some ext ent t he li ngui st s who are i n remot e locat i ons t alk more frequent ly (by phone)
wi t h t he agent s t hey support t han t hose who are locat ed i n t he fi eld offi ces wi t h t he
agent s. Thi ngs are changi ng, but i t t akes agent s a whi le t o underst and t he li ngui st s' need
for cont ext and an underst andi ng of t he case, and t o underst and t hat li ngui st s can prov i de
cult ural i nsi ght s, et c.
Gulot t a t hi nks t hat FBI personnel are worki ng more as a t eam now; i t 's a t rai ni ng i ssue.
They need t o be sure t hat all part s of t he t eam are forced t o work t oget her. She t hi nks as
soon as t hey do t hey'll see t he benefi t , so a new Di v i si on i s not necessary. Thi s i s just
part of changi ng t he way t hey do busi ness.
It 's hard t o get analyst s t o see t he v alue of t he li ngui st s. Analyst s want li ngui st s t o
t ranslat e ev eryt hi ng b/c t hey don't always t rust t hei r t ri agi ng. Any t ensi on comes from
t hi s and from t he di fferent ages of t he t wo groups (li ngui st s t ypi cally are older) , and from
get t i ng used t o worki ng t oget her. L i ngui st s need t o t ell t he analyst s and agent s t hat t hey
cannot do t he work wi t hout more i nformat i on (i .e., cont ext ) .
ACS. Ev ery li ngui st should hav e FBINET (ACS, E- mai l) and Redwolf on hi s/her
deskt op t oday. In t he past , li ngui st s di dn't hav e FBINET on t hei r deskt ops and had t o go
elsewhere t o use i t .
Management of Linguists. L i ngui st s hav e always report ed t o t hei r fi eld offi ce
management , but Gulot t a i s changi ng t hi s. There aren't li ngui st superv i sors i n each fi eld
offi ce, so she i s goi ng t o place regi onal superv i sory language speci ali st s at HQs who wi ll
serv e as rev i ewi ng offi ci als for t he fi eld superv i sors. She i s now not requi ri ng superv i sors
t o hav e forei gn language ski lls; she just want s t hem t o be good managers.
There i s also a regi onal language serv i ces cent er t hat li nks sev eral fi eld offi ces t hat had
been doi ng t hei r own t hi ng. Now, t he work i s sent t o t he li ngui st rat her t han sendi ng t he
li ngui st t o t he work. Gulot t a has had t o t alk di rect ly t o t he SACs t o conv i nce t hem t o
send t he work t o t he li ngui st s. Thi s i s more effi ci ent .
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L i ngui st s st i ll must t rav el occasi onally. When a li ngui st i s needed t o t ranslat e Ti t le III
EL SUR he/she has t o t rav el t o t he fi eld offi ce i n quest i on because Ti t le III requi res t hat
t he li ngui st li st en t o t he t ake li v e. L i ngui st s must also t rav el ov erseas on occasi on, or t o
assi st duri ng a t ri al.
The bi ggest challenge i s managi ng 1300 li ngui st s i n 50 fi eld offi ces. The 20 posi t i ons
(i nfrast ruct ure, abov e) wi ll help.
English Monitoring Center. The FBI has set up t hi s cent er aft er 9/11 t o handle t he
FISA t ake t hat i s i n Engli sh. It i ni t i ally was a t emporary cent er at t he CJIS faci li t y (West
VA) and t he FBI t emporari ly assi gned 15 support employees t o work t here. Now t hi s
cent er i s on t he net work.
Linguists as Analysts. NSA li ngui st s are nat i v e Engli sh speakers, so possess a di fferent
ski ll set . They are called L anguage Analyst s and are a hybri d of t he Bureau's analyst and
li ngui st posi t i ons. Not all FBI li ngui st s hav e t he ski ll set t o do what t he NSA L anguage
Analyst s do. Many FBI li ngui st s are at t endi ng t he College of Analyt i cal St udi es because
i t i s i mport ant for t hem t o be t rai ned i n analysi s. It 's hard t o spare t hem for si x weeks as
i t adds t o t he unaddressed workload. Some li ngui st s do become analyst s (maybe 20
percent ) .
Quality Control. The FBI has always had t hi s but not nat i onwi de. In January 2003,
t hey i mplement ed t he Program nat i onwi de. At a mi ni mum, all of a new li ngui st s work i s
rev i ewed for t he fi rst t hree mont hs. Thi s i s excessi v e, because one knows t he problem
li ngui st s up front . Thereaft er, one sample work product per quart er i s rev i ewed. Thi s
process hasn't surfaced any spi es. Gulot t a would li ke t o hav e a separat e st aff at HQ t o do
t hi s QC.
Grade levels. Superv i sory li ngui st s are GS- 13s, so t here i s no i ncent i v e t o do all of t he
ext ra work requi red. They mi ght as well be GS- 13 li ngui st s. Very few li ngui st s get past
t he GS- 13 lev el at NSA, alt hough some go up t o t he SES lev el.
NSA v. FBI Volume of Work. The v olume of NSA t ake i s phenomenal so t hey must
use t echnology t o t ri age i t . The FBI, i n cont rast , always knows who i t i s li st eni ng t o.
GAO rev i ewed t he FBI's workload planni ng process aft er 9/11 and "lov ed i t ."
FISA Translation Backlog. Machi nes are not good at report i ng st at i st i cs, but enable
compari son ov er t i me. On av erage t hei r CT cov erage i s at 92 percent . It 's 89 percent
wi t h audi o and odd languages. Gulot t a has not hi ng t o do wi t h t he FISA process. The
current requi rement wi t h CT FISAs i s t hat t hey must be t ranslat ed "near li v e" (i .e., wi t hi n
12 hours) . Wi t h CI FISAs t hey can li st en more select i v ely i n accordance wi t h current
ev ent s, et c. Gulot t a expect s problems as t hey speed up t he legal rev i ew process for
FISAs as t hi s wi ll cause L anguage Serv i ces t o become backed up as well. Fi eld offi ces
do t hei r own pri ori t i zat i on, but HQ st eps i n when an offi ce has an i mport ant case and no
t ranslat ors. Si mi larly, t he CT Di v i si on set s i t s own pri ori t i es and L anguage Serv i ces
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responds accordi ngly. L anguage Serv i ces does not pri ori t i ze any of t he work i t self. If
t he Cri mi nal Di v i si on comes t o Gulot t a and says i t has t ranslat i on work associ at ed wi t h a
drug case wi t h a CT nexus, Gulot t a t ells t hem t o go t hrough t he CT Di v i si on t o get t he
assi gnment t o her. Rayt heon current ly i s desi gni ng a syst em t o t ell you how many
t ranslat i ons hav e been done, how long i t t ook t o fi ni sh each one, et c.
Aft er 9/11, she t old t he li ngui st s t o go back 30 t o 60 days and li st en t o t he t ake agai n.
Howev er, because of t he way t he syst em was set up, i t was i mpossi ble t o t ell what of t he
archi v ed work had act ually been rev i ewed and complet ed, and what was unaddressed
work. So t hey deci ded t hat deali ng wi t h t he current t ake was more i mport ant t han
deali ng wi t h t he backlog.
National Virtual Translation Center. The FBI i s i t s bi ggest cust omer, especi ally i n
languages where t hey don't hav e t ranslat ors. There i s no downsi de. The FBI i s doi ng all
of t he NVTC's background i nv est i gat i ons. She doesn't see t he NVTC as compet i t i on
(i .e., for new t ranslat ors) ; i t i s only t here t o augment . She t hi nks t he rest of t he US
Gov ernment needs t he NVTC more t han t he FBI does. The FBI i s used t o aski ng for
help. One of t he NVTC deput i es i s an FBI employee. The FBI asked i t s cont ract ors i f
t hey want ed t o do NVTC work on t hei r off hours and t hey di d. It 's unclassi fi ed work, off
t he Int ernet and done at home. The FBI i s gi v i ng t he NVTC one out of ev ery t hree
li ngui st s i t hi res.
DC Translation Center. She i s t ryi ng t o get Congressi onal approv al t o bui ld a 250
person t ranslat i on cent er i n DC at t he Washi ngt on Fi eld Offi ce. They also are bui ldi ng
out at San Franci sco, L os Angeles, Mi ami , San Di ego and Honolulu.
Statistics. Si nce 9/11, t hey hav e hi red 136 Arabi c li ngui st s (now hav e 206 v s. 70 pri or t o
9/11) , 31 Farsi li ngui st s (t hey are now at 100 % for Farsi ) , 9 Pasht u (had 1 pre- 9/11) , 15
Urdu (6 pre 9/11) , 6 Kurdi sh (0 before 9/11) , and a few who speak Dan (now at 100 %
for t hi s language as well) .
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