A federal judge ordered home arrest for an American linguist accused of stealing national security secrets while working at a U.S. Navy base in Bahrain . James Hitselberger , 56 , is fluent in Arabic , Farsi and Russian . Global Linguist Solutions assigned him to the naval base in Bahrain in 2011 , but the government said he illegally retained national defense information on two occasions during this placement . After naval investigators interviewed him about he allegations , they told him the company wanted him to return to the United States to be officially fired . Instead Hitselberger traveled through Europe for several months , communicating with friends through his government - monitored email account and updating his Facebook page with pictures of sightseeing . ;