The only military faculty in the country dedicated to the teaching of foreign languages is the Foreign Languages Wing (FLW) of AEC Training College and Centre, Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh. Pachmarhi, now an important biosphere reserve, provides an opportunity to the defence personnel to get acquainted with the ideograms and pictograms of Mandarin Chinese, the intricate grammar of Dzongkha or the rich connotations of Tibetan vocabulary. Numerous foreign officers from the Armed Forces of friendly countries like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrghystan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mongolia, Palestine and Nepal come to this centre to attain proficiency in foreign languages. While a bulk of the students at the FLW are from all arms and Services of the Indian Army, personnel from Indian Air Force as well as para-military forces are also given training here.

The FLW came into being as part of the AEC Training College and Centre in March 1963. The Department of Tibetan was the first department established here. The Department of Chinese followed in quick succession. Later, in March 1971, the Department of Dzongkha was also set up to teach the official language of Royal Bhutan and it remains, till date, the only seat of learning of this language in the country. In addition, the FLW has the potential to run need-based courses from time to time such as a course in German.

The Specialist English Wing, a part of the FLW, conducts a host of communication skill capsules for prospective Indian Army officers and teacher training courses for English language teachers in Army. It has acquired international acclaim in recent years in teaching English as a foreign language.

Special workshops are frequently organised by the leading institutions of the country such as Vishwabharati School of Foreign Languages (SFL), New Delhi and the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad. The centre conducts training sessions to hone the instructional skills of the faculty members. The regular study tours ensure useful interaction with Tibetans at Dharamsala and Bodh Gaya and Chinese in Chinatown, Kolkata. The tours help the students acquire competence in the use of the dialects. The Department of Tibetan has a distinct advantage in this respect with two native instructors. Efforts are on to post native instructors in other departments as well.

In view of the complexity for adult beginners in learning foreign languages, it is mandatory for the students to pass the Language Aptitude Test designed by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) before being detailed on a courses. While the course in Chinese is run over 96 weeks, the courses in Tibetan and Dzongkha are of 72 weeks each. Two courses, one of 26 weeks and second of 44 weeks duration, are offered to acquire proficiency in English language.