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United States Security Assistance Organizations
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United States Security Assistance Organizations
United States Security Assistance Organizations (SAOs) are Department of Defense military and civilian personnel stationed abroad to manage security assistance and other military programs. SAOs are closest to these programs' operation and have the closest contact with host-country militaries.
In general, they are not to be confused with defense attachés, who normally play a more diplomatic role. Many U.S. embassies have both defense attachés and SAOs.
Security assistance organizations go by different names in different countries. These names include Military Groups (MILGROUPs), Military Assistance and Advisory Groups (MAAGs), Military Liaison Offices (MLOs), Offices of the Defense Representative (ODRs), Offices of Security Cooperation (OSC) (one example is the Office of Defense Cooperation Turkey), and the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC).
The Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq, part of the larger embassy of the United States, Baghdad after the 2011 U.S. withdrawal held the remaining DOD support personnel, totalling about 1,000 contractors and about 147 DOD uniformed personnel. It operated from ten locations around Iraq, and managed about 370 Foreign Military Sales cases, totalling more than US $9 billion of pending arms sales, citing a February 2012 Congressional Research Service report. The biggest program underway was the much-delayed sale of 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters. The Office was headed by Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen. OSC-Iraq was established on October 1, 2011. Lt Gen John M. Bednarek succeeded Caslen.
The Office of the Defense Representative, Pakistan, was the Islamabad presence.
There are also non-DOD entities carrying out similar activities. The Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs runs the Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP), amongst others.
SAOs' duties are officially referred to as "overseas military program management". Specific responsibilities may include managing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases, managing training programs, monitoring security-assistance programs, evaluating and planning the host country's military capabilities and requirements, promoting international defense cooperation and interoperability between forces, providing administrative support, and other liaison functions.
Typically, SAOs are responsible for a number of different tasks listed in the Department of Defense Manual, The Management of Security Assistance:
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United States Security Assistance Organizations
United States Security Assistance Organizations (SAOs) are Department of Defense military and civilian personnel stationed abroad to manage security assistance and other military programs. SAOs are closest to these programs' operation and have the closest contact with host-country militaries.
In general, they are not to be confused with defense attachés, who normally play a more diplomatic role. Many U.S. embassies have both defense attachés and SAOs.
Security assistance organizations go by different names in different countries. These names include Military Groups (MILGROUPs), Military Assistance and Advisory Groups (MAAGs), Military Liaison Offices (MLOs), Offices of the Defense Representative (ODRs), Offices of Security Cooperation (OSC) (one example is the Office of Defense Cooperation Turkey), and the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC).
The Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq, part of the larger embassy of the United States, Baghdad after the 2011 U.S. withdrawal held the remaining DOD support personnel, totalling about 1,000 contractors and about 147 DOD uniformed personnel. It operated from ten locations around Iraq, and managed about 370 Foreign Military Sales cases, totalling more than US $9 billion of pending arms sales, citing a February 2012 Congressional Research Service report. The biggest program underway was the much-delayed sale of 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters. The Office was headed by Lieutenant General Robert L. Caslen. OSC-Iraq was established on October 1, 2011. Lt Gen John M. Bednarek succeeded Caslen.
The Office of the Defense Representative, Pakistan, was the Islamabad presence.
There are also non-DOD entities carrying out similar activities. The Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs runs the Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP), amongst others.
SAOs' duties are officially referred to as "overseas military program management". Specific responsibilities may include managing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases, managing training programs, monitoring security-assistance programs, evaluating and planning the host country's military capabilities and requirements, promoting international defense cooperation and interoperability between forces, providing administrative support, and other liaison functions.
Typically, SAOs are responsible for a number of different tasks listed in the Department of Defense Manual, The Management of Security Assistance: