Defense Security Cooperation Agency

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Defense Security Cooperation Agency
DEFENSE SECURITY COOPERATION AGENCY-SEAL approved.jpg
Agency overview
JurisdictionU.S. Federal Government
HeadquartersThe Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Website www.dsca.mil

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) is an agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) which provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense materiel, training and services to allies, and promotes military-to-military contacts.

Contents

Security Cooperation (SC) is founded on a tradition of cooperation between the United States and other sovereign nations with similar values and interests in order to meet common defense goals. It consists of a group of programs authorized by the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and the Arms Export Control Act of 1976, as amended, and related statutes by which the DoD or commercial contractors provide defense articles and services in furtherance of national policies and objectives.

History

Founded in 1971, [1] the Defense Security Assistance Agency was renamed the Defense Security Cooperation Agency effective October 1, 1998. [2]

Foreign military sales (FMS)

Foreign military sales (FMS) and International Military Education and Training (IMET) are two key programs included within Security Cooperation. IMET is conducted solely on a grant basis. FMS can be conducted through direct payments of foreign states or United States Foreign Military Financing (FMF). Foreign Military Sales division is the core activity of DSCA, and yearly sales are between US$30-50 billion. [3] In fiscal year 2020, US corporations sold $50.8 billion through FMS, and $124.3 billion through direct commercial sales. [4]

FMS is a U.S. government to foreign government agreement, and DSCA acts as agent for procurement mostly for American defense company and aerospace companies or for DoD stocks. On any given day, DSCA is managing “14,000 open foreign military sales cases with 185 countries,” the DSCA director Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper explained at the Brookings Institution in June 2019. [5]

FMS is managed and operated by DoD on a no-profit and no-loss basis. Countries participating in the program pay for defense articles and services at prices which recoup costs incurred by the United States. This includes a fee to cover the cost of administering the program. [6]

Regional centers

DSCA has five regional centers. They are:

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International Military Education and Training (IMET) is the title of a United States security assistance program, a type of student exchange program.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakhstan–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Military Training Mission</span> Military unit

The United States Military Training Mission (USMTM) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a Security Assistance Organization (SAO) which manages and is primarily funded by Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases between the United States Government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. USMTM was the result of a meeting between King Abdul Aziz and United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Great Bitter Lake.

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United States Security Assistance Organizations (SAOs) are Federal Government of the United States military and civilian personnel stationed in foreign countries to manage security assistance and other military programs. SAOs are closest to these programs' operation and have the closest contact with host-country militaries.

The Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program provides grants and loans to help countries purchase weapons and defense equipment produced in the United States as well as acquiring defense services and military training. FMF funds purchases are made through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, which manages government-to-government sales. FMF also funds purchases made through the Direct Commercial Contracts (DCC) program, which oversees sales between foreign governments and private U.S. companies. FMF does not provide cash grants to other countries; it generally pays for sales of specific goods or services through FMS or DCS.

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The United States Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) – "the 'Army's Face to the World'" - implements security assistance programs, including Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of defense articles and services to eligible foreign governments. In addition, USASAC is responsible for the US Army's security assistance information management and financial policy and provides logistics guidance to the army's security assistance community. The command also supports the U.S. government's emergency assistance, humanitarian relief, and Operations Other Than War, including peacekeeping operations by the United Nations. The USASAC traces its origins to the Army's technical service era, and was designated a major subordinate command (MSC) of the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) in 1975. Since its formation, USASAC has supported major US military operations and supported international peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. The USASAC's motto is "Strength in Cooperation."

Offsets are compensatory trade agreements, reciprocal trade agreements, between an exporting foreign company, or possibly a government acting as intermediary, and an importing entity. Offset agreements often involve trade in military goods and services and are alternatively called: industrial compensations, industrial cooperation, offsets, industrial and regional benefits, balances, juste retour or equilibrium, to define mechanisms more complex than counter-trade. Counter-trade can also be considered one of the many forms of defense offset, to compensate a purchasing country. The incentive for the exporter results from the conditioning of the core transaction to the acceptance of the offset obligation.

A foreign area officer (FAO) is a commissioned officer from any of the six branches of the United States Armed Forces who is a regionally focused expert in political-military operations. Such officers possess a unique combination of strategic focus and regional expertise, with political, cultural, sociological, economic, and geographic awareness. Foreign language proficiency is necessary in at least one of the dominant languages in their specified region.

Established in 2000, the Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies is a U.S. Department of Defense institution for building relationships and understanding in the NESA region. The NESA Center supports the theater security cooperation effort of four Regional Combatant Commands: United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM), United States European Command (USEUCOM), and United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) and is one of five regional centers that fall under the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. With its 21st Century security and academic focus, the NESA Center seeks to build on the strong multilateral relationships between the U.S government and its allies in the region; the Near East and South and Central Asian regional governments and their armed forces, by focusing on broader multilateral approaches and capacity building to address regional security issues and concerns. The NESA Center is located at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC.

The United States Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defense contractor; instead, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) serves as an intermediary, usually handling procurement, logistics, and delivery, often providing product support, training, and infrastructure construction.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign Military Sales Act of 1971</span>

The Foreign Military Sales Act of 1971, Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law  91–672, 84 Stat. 2053, enacted January 12, 1971, was created as an amendment to the Foreign Military Sales Act of 1968. The Act of 1971 established declarations to promote international peace and national security for economic, political, and social progress. The declaration provided coordination for international armament appropriations meeting the objectives of the Nixon Administration's foreign policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles W. Hooper</span> United States Army general

Charles Wayne Hooper is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Army who held the position of director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) from 2017 to 2020. DSCA administers security cooperation programs that support U.S. policy interests and objectives identified by the White House, Department of Defense, and Department of State. These objectives include developing specific partner capabilities, building alliances and partnerships, and facilitating U.S. access. DSCA integrates security cooperation activities in support of a whole-of-government approach; provides execution guidance to DoD entities that implement security cooperation programs; exercises financial and program management for the Foreign Military Sales system and many other security cooperation programs; and educates and provides for the long-term development of the security cooperation workforces.

References

  1. Tirman, John (1997). Spoils of War: The Human Cost of America's Arms Trade . New York: Free Press. p.  24. ISBN   978-0684827261.
  2. United States Department of Defense, 20 May 1998, SUBJECT: Department of Defense Reform Initiative Directive # 40 - Redesignation of the Defense Security Assistance Agency as the Defense Security Cooperation Agency Archived 2014-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Historical Sales Book: Fiscal Years 1950 – 2022" (PDF). Defense Security Cooperation Agency. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-06. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  4. Mehta, Aaron (2020-12-04). "America sold $175 billion in weapons abroad in FY20". Defense News. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  5. Hooper, Charles (4 June 2019). "How security cooperation advances US interests". Brookings Institution. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  6. "12 - Financial Management" (PDF). Green Book. Defense Security Cooperation University. 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. Africa Center for Strategic Studies Archived December 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies". Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  9. "Welcome to the Marshall Center". Archived from the original on 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  10. "William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies". Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  11. "Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies". Archived from the original on 2009-07-28. Retrieved 2009-12-01.