The Value of Lived Experience

As a freelancer, it is rare to be consistently involved in a project that spans multiple years and involves dozens of meetings. I’ve been involved in one Foriegn Military Sales project on and off for 8 years. In this particular case, Korea is purchasing assets from an American defense manufacturer, and the entire process requires U.S. government oversight. 

It was by coincidence that I happened to be involved in the initial meeting and was called back for the following series of negotiations for pricing, delivery schedule, and follow-on maintenance and repairs. I remember them as the most challenging and contentious meetings I have ever interpreted due to several factors. 

First of all, numbers. Not only were there hundreds of line items and each line given values and estimates and a projected balance after x years, these figures were big, ranging from thousands to two-digit billions. Knowing that one misspoken incident could mean the difference between 2 million and 200 million was a source of immense stress. 

Second, when the scale is that big, all parties involved negotiate very aggressively. Each stakeholder has to work within a scope set by their leadership, and sometimes the scope is simply not feasible. The teams at the table have an obligation to report and receive approval from many stakeholders whose agendas and priorities don’t necessarily align with those at the table. Given the nature of FMS, some decisions are more political than logical. Understandably, emotions can fly high, and the meetings can drag on for hours over the price of one item or the wording of a phrase. 

Third, there are so. many. acronyms. This particular project used so many acronyms that they had produced a whole booklet of acronyms, not just for the interpreters but for everyone involved because no one could possibly know what they all meant. It took me years to get a sense of whether an acronym referred to a type of contract, a group of people, a facility, a product, a software, or something else entirely. For years, these acronyms were the source of so much anxiety for me. Effective communication is simply not possible when you don’t know what you are talking about. And it was not just the interpreters; all the participants were flustered by the acronyms! 

This past week, I supported the 17th semi-annual project management meeting and can finally honestly say that I felt good afterward. I can now expect a ballpark figure for a given item, know the different parties’ roles and responsibilities in this project, and have confidence in my gut feeling about the nature of acronyms more than 90 percent of the time. 

I now see how, as the project matured, the parties involved became more knowledgeable and more efficient on all fronts. I felt a sense of accomplishment that came with being involved even before the products were put into production and seeing the lengthy process that was involved to deliver them and finally move into the sustainment phase. A colonel who came as the Korean teaㅡ lead this time recognized that he and I had the most institutional knowledge about the project in the room. We were the only ones who had been involved since the very first meeting 8 years ago. When you are almost always the least knowledgeable person, a freelance interpreter just plugged in for that meeting in a room full of experts, having insight to the history of a project in its entirety allowed a rare sense of a comforting privilege. 

I will say that this project is not my preferred topic to interpret. Tech is more dynamic, civic engagement is more real. Heck, I would dare say software architecture might be even more interesting. Initially, I returned to the project because of its consistent availability, because you can't be picky when you’re establishing yourself. It is still one of the most complex projects I am involved in, but now the challenge is manageable and keeps it interesting. Plus, I feel vested now. I’ve worked so hard to learn the terms and ins and outs of the project that it would be such a waste to not make sure of my ever-expanding glossary of eight years and the niche knowledge I've gained along the way.