Two Ecuadorian Navy pilots took a nearly 4,000-mile journey from Ecuador to Boise, Idaho to attend Night Vision pilot training with Aviation Specialties Unlimited (ASU) earlier this summer. The ASU NVG flight instructors have trained pilots and crew members from more than 20 different countries to fly with night vision. In the initial training, each student gets eight hours of ground school and five hours of night-time flight instruction with NVGs.

With so many international customers, ASU offers in-house translation and interpretation services for Spanish-speaking customers and contracts services for many other languages. Jacqueline Elvira, an ASU administrative support specialist, provided interpretation as needed for the pilots from Ecuador.“When English is not your first language, communication takes longer. Our flight instructors slow down and speak clearly and briefly,” said Elvira. “I provide as much interpretation as is needed to make it easy for the students and get them the information they need.”

Elvira is a native of Guatemala and moved to the U.S. in 1981. She became fluent in English while attending school here in the U.S. Elvira has been with ASU for more than two years. Her primary administrative role is accounts receivable, but she also provides translation and interpretation services for many areas of ASU. Her language support has helped countless international customers and advanced ASU’s global reach.

“When teaching non-native English speaking students, I slow down,” said Brad Brummett, ASU instructor pilot. “I keep my instructions in basic language, repeat the same words and often stop to make sure everyone understands. I also encourage students to discuss with each other, after each training session, what they learned individually, in their native language for deeper understating.”