Presidio remembers Alfie Khalil with building dedication

PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif., - Nearly 150 people turned out for the dedication of the Presidio of Monterey's new instructional building in memory of a longtime colleague Alfie Tawfik Khalil here March 4.

In attendance at the event hosted by Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Commandant Col. Danial D. Pick were U.S. Representative Sam Farr, local civic representatives, and school and garrison leaders and staff. Additionally, more than 20 members of Khalil's family traveled to Monterey for the occasion - his brother Hany Khalil came from Egypt, while other family members came from Southern California and Colorado.

Pick began the event with a welcome to the guests in English as well as Egyptian. He then spoke to the common theme: that Khalil, who worked at the DLIFLC for 27 years, 17 of which were spent as union president, left a lasting legacy that will benefit many generations to come.

Pick said that, although he never had the privilege to know Khalil, he learned from those who did that Khalil was a legendary figure because of his "incredible sense of the people, his willingness to listen patiently, give advice gently and, most of all, because of his role as union leader here for 17 years."

Farr spoke about his "wonderful friends" as an immigrant to this country who "became a major citizen of Monterey." He said that it seemed at every function he went to, "Alfie was there."

"He wasn't there just to be present because there was a civic event or social party," Farr said. "He was there because he wanted to get his message across: What an incredible installation and school this was. His heart was here."

There are many examples, Pick said, of how Khalil "carefully weighed the needs of the faculty against the importance of our vital mission."

"Alfie left a legacy of unprecedented positive relations between the union and DLI management. His contributions as union leader and his fight against the Base Realignment and Closure reviews in the 1990s and again in 2005 are well known," Pick said.

Specifically, the installation faced the very real possibility of closing and moving the institute to Fort Huachuca, Ariz. In 1993 and again in 1995, the union worked tirelessly to provide statistical information to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

In his speech, Farr explained that Khalil understood the importance of ensuring people outside the gates of the installation understood the important role of the institute and its faculty community.

Khalil also was instrumental in putting on a face on what it meant if the DLIFLC and installation were closed or realigned, Farr said, adding that Khalil helped demonstrate why the military couldn't create the excellent quality of a specialized learning center that was DLIFLC somewhere else.

Pick said that Khalil's work with others "resulted in the BRAC Commission's decision not to move the Defense Language Institute."

Also as union president, Khalil pursued a cooperative spirit between the union and DLIFLC management, which ultimately led to the successful implementation of the Faculty Personnel System, which was in line with industry practices. The merit-based civil-service system, the FPS, allowed teachers to rank advance and get promoted in the classroom where they were best qualified, as opposed to moving up into supervisory non-teaching positions.

"He understood the significance this institution played in world understanding and in cross-cultural understanding. I think he opened a lot of our eyes and ears to what had traditionally been sealed off with the gates and difficulty getting into," Farr said. "People knew that languages were taught here, but they didn't know the people who taught those languages. Alfie opened that door. He did it through his union work, by upgrading the respect for teachers and making them professional in the eyes of the law and in the ability to get pay."

While it took seven year to have the system passed into law and several more years to implement the system, Pick said that Khalil was patient and spent many hours explaining to faculty the benefits of the system. Eventually, Pick said, 77 percent of the eligible faculty joined the FPS system, and he deemed it a great success.

Another of Khalil's big accomplishments as union leader that Pick brought up was Khalil's successful fight for the implementation of San Francisco locality pay in the Monterey Bay area.

Farr said of a man he called his friend, "I don't think anybody ever worked harder to bring to the attention that living in this area was more expensive than living in other areas." Farr explained that Khalil worked with him to exclude all the federal land in Monterey County, including the national forest, to achieve the density population to qualify for a formula to make a winning case.

That brought about, according to statistics at that time, about $40 million more per year to Monterey County for all the federal employees here, Farr said. "And I give Alfie the credit for making that happen."

Pick said that when Khalil died Nov. 18, 2006, at his home in Monterey the entire institute was saddened. More than 400 family members, friends, faculty, staff, and DLIFLC leadership bid farewell to DLIFLC and POM's union leader at his memorial service held Nov. 30, 2006.

Farr said he remembered Khalil as a person who loved music and art, was active in a lot of community organizations and was always introducing Farr to other faculty members. He also remembers Khalil mentored Soldiers who had questions about living in Monterey and learning tough languages. "But most of all I knew him as a loyal friend. And loyalty is very rare in politics."

Farr repeated an Egyptian proverb: A house has the character of the man who lives in it.

He said, "If that's true, then this building being dedicated today will be a house of dignity, a house of integrity, a house of friendship, a house of hard work and a house of achievement, because that was the character of Alfie Khalil."

In response to the memorializing of Khalil, his brother Hany Khalil, through the translation of Khalil's nephew Mark Khalil, said that as a representative of the family - those who attended and those who were unable to attend because of the political unrest in Egypt - he found great joy in the building dedication.

Hany said he was amazed to stand before the group for three reasons.

"First, because I speak before American heroes of whom I read about in the news and to whom today I have the pleasure of addressing face to face.

"Secondly, this building that we behold, while grand in appearance and advanced in its capabilities, is only a reflection of the great minds that had a vision and precise plan for it.

"Finally, I believe that this building will have a great role for America as a unique institute for foreign language teaching that teaches and trains a new generation of American heroes who believe in responsible freedom, and who encourage justice that does not discriminate between religions and that respects gender differences, yet holds them equal."

Then, Hany shared his feelings with a couple questions "Am I in a dream or reality' Is this fantasy or real life'"

"I could have never imagined that Alfie could be honored this way. You have immortalized him as a man who loved America," he said. "I now know why Alfie Khalil loved America. Whenever we asked him about America, he described it as one describes the love of his life or a rare jewel. America continually occupied his mind, thoughts and feelings."

Hany expressed that "He loved America, and therefore, you loved him. He was loyal to America, and so you are honoring him today."

Hany said the Khalil's family was deeply saddened by the passing of Alfie, "but by your kindness today, you have turned our pain into a palpable source of comfort and joy."

Therefore, Hany said, "I declare before you after what I've witnessed today that our family in Egypt no longer views Alfie's resting place as the Lighthouse cemetery, but we see him as living in this building that bears his name."

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