There is some confusion regarding Bout's military career although it is clear he served in the Soviet Armed Forces. Having graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages,[23][28][29] he is said to be fluent in six languages.[30] These include Persian and Esperanto, which he had mastered by age 12,[31][32] and in the early 1980s he was member of the Esperanto club in Dushanbe.[33]