Discuss the WWII Navajo Code Talkers from how the concept was generated,

Answer

The Navajo Talkers

A code talker refers to those people that the military employed to utilize a little known language as a communication strategy against their opponents. Originally, code talking was pioneered during the World War 1 by the Cherokee and Choctaw (Trahant, 2018). However, the concept grew and was widely used during the Second World War when the US marine recruited Native Americans to help them encrypt and decrypt the messages in the war against the Japanese.

How the Concept of Navajo Code Talkers Developed

During World War II, American soldiers were fighting against the Japanese soldiers. The American soldiers crafted a strategy that will help them win the war against the Japanese soldiers by recruiting people who knew the Native American language (Tlingit) and used it as a secret code in communication (Trahant, 2018). The Native Americans soldiers used the concept as a basis for transmitting coded messages during the war. These Native Americans were called the Navajo talkers. The idea matured when it was discovered that the code talkers improved the speed that communication was being encrypted and decrypted in front line operations. As a result, America’s Marine Corps recruited more than 500 Native Americans whose main job was to transmit the secret tactical message. The transmission of coded messages was done over military telephones and radio communication nets. This involved informally developing the codes built upon their native languages.  

The Training

Since the transmission of coded information involved the use of military radios, the training of the Navajo code talkers was extensively on how to use the radios and telephones to send coded messages (Trahant, 2018). Also, they were trained on how to memorize the codes because it’s the codes that were to be communicated over the radios. Memorizing the codes is different from communicating them. That is why the code talkers were also trained on how to effectively communicate them to avoid distorting the information.

Overcoming Challenges with the Language and Military Jargon

The language was the main problem for the code talkers. This is so because the original Navajo Talkers was made up of 29 different groups and each group developed the codes using their native language making it difficult for the 29 groups to understand each other (Quinlan, 2019). However, the original talkers managed to overcome this challenge by coming up with Navajo word for each English alphabetically letter. Since they had to memorize all the words that they came up with, they had to come up with words of things that were familiar to them such as the names of animals.

Successes and Failures

One of the major successes of Navajo code talkers was in the encryption and decryption of the communication. The Navajo talkers improved the way the information was encrypted and decrypted in the front line military operations during World War II. This was possible because the Navajo created the dictionary for all the military terms such that it was difficult for the Japanese soldiers to understand what the American soldiers were communicating even if they listened (Stevenson, 2018). However, the major failure of the Navajo code talkers was that some of the lacked bravery and intelligence that trained military officers have. This is a failure because some of them could not tolerate the harsh environment during the war since they were just common civilians with no military training.

Contribution of the Talkers to the American War Effort

From the discussion above, it is evident that the Navajo code talker’s main contribution in the war effort was helping the US military officers to encrypt and decrypt the messages during the war. It’s believed that every marine unit that was deployed in the Pacific Ocean was assigned one Navajo code talker to help them transmitting the messages (Dahl, 2016). It is because of their efforts during the war that both professional encryption leaders and politicians in the US have recognized and paid tribute to them.

Conclusion

A code talker refers to those people that the military employed to utilize a little known language as a communication strategy against their opponents. The concept grew and was widely used during the Second World War when the US marine recruited Native Americans to help them encrypt and decrypt the messages in the war against the Japanese. Since the transmission of coded information involved the use of military radios, the training of the Navajo code talkers was extensively on how to use the radios and telephones to send coded messages. One of the major successes of Navajo code talkers was in the encryption and decryption of the communication. However, the major failure of the Navajo code talkers was that some of the lacked bravery and intelligence that trained military officers have. From the discussion above, it is evident that the Navajo code talker’s main contribution in the war effort was helping the US military officers to encrypt and decrypt the messages during the war.