The embassy office and a new case

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1. The office that sits between the two governments

Every partner country buying American defense equipment has a small United States office inside the embassy running the relationship day to day. Its duties on a case are set out in the manual, and they begin before any request exists.

The office is expected to shape the request rather than simply forward it. "A clear and comprehensive LOR can help ensure the USG is able to rapidly respond to the partner nation request with a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA)" (SAMM C2.1.4.1). Where it learns a request is coming, "SCOs should coordinate with CCMDs, MILDEP Component Commands, and the appropriate MILDEP to identify any known issues with the procurement under consideration" (SAMM C2.1.4.1).

The point is to prevent a request that cannot be answered. What a request must contain is covered in before a Letter of Request.

2. Two things the office has to be able to explain

The manual puts two specific pieces of knowledge on the office rather than on the capital. The first is a classification test: "SCOs must be able to determine whether a requested item is Significant Military Equipment (SME)/Major Defense Equipment (MDE)" (SAMM C2.1.4.1.1), and then explain to the partner what that designation means for the request.

The second is the extra review that certain items attract. "SCOs must be prepared to discuss with the partner nation any unique or non-standard equipment LOR review requirements that may be associated with the equipment being requested" (SAMM C2.1.4.1.2). Which items those are is set out in planning and advice before a request.

The office also routes the request. Contact details for the agencies authorized to receive one are published, and the office assists the partner in getting it to the right one (SAMM C2.1.4.1.3).

3. The assessment the embassy writes

Certain requests must travel with an assessment written by the country team, and ownership of it is unambiguous. "The SCO is responsible for drafting the CTA, coordinating it with the country team, and transmitting the CTA to DSCA" (SAMM C2.1.4.2), specifically to the regional country portfolio director and the relevant defense component.

Sequencing is left to judgment. Depending on the situation, "the SCO may choose to forward the LOR, CTA, and any other relevant documents to the IA as a single package" (SAMM C2.1.4.2), or send the assessment afterwards as a follow on document.

That assessment is the document in which the embassy records what it believes about the partner’s ability to pay and to absorb what it is asking for. It reappears later in other processes, including the eligibility evaluation described in sharing cost, and paying under assessment.

4. Chasing the answer

Once a request is in, the office becomes the party that keeps it moving. "SCOs ensure U.S. responsiveness to the partner nation by monitoring correspondence related to each LOR and following up with USG agencies as required" (SAMM C2.1.4.3.1).

Part of that job is managing expectations about time. "The actual time required to prepare LOA documents (Basic LOAs, Amendments, and Modifications) varies with the type and complexity of the sale" (SAMM C2.1.4.3.2), and the office is expected to know the published standards and explain them to its counterparts.

When the document arrives the office reads it before the partner does. "SCOs should examine offered LOAs and be prepared to explain LOA format and content to partner nation representatives" (SAMM C2.1.4.3.3). What is inside the document is set out in inside the Letter of Offer and Acceptance.

5. Changes before signature, and the moment after

The office is also expected to understand what can still be altered. Both minor and major changes can be made after an agreement has been countersigned and offered. Three conditions hold: it remains in offered status, the purchaser has not signed, and the offer expiration date has not passed (SAMM C2.1.4.3.4). A cancelled agreement can sometimes be reactivated. Those limits are examined in putting a case on hold.

Signature creates an immediate reporting duty. "Once an LOA has been Accepted or Rejected by the partner nation, the SCO should advise the IA and DSCA" (SAMM C2.1.4.3.5).

Some countries sign without the office in the room, and the manual plans for that. "In countries where LOAs are routinely signed without direct SCO involvement, the LOA includes a note requiring the partner nation signature authority to notify the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)-Denver and the MILDEP of the acceptance date" (SAMM C2.1.4.3.5). The office then keeps its own picture current through regular contact with the case manager.

6. What the office is expected to hold

Two record keeping duties follow. The first is access to the shared system. "SCIP is a web-based system that provides both USG personnel and international customers with access to FMS case-related data" (SAMM C2.1.5.1), drawing on the military department execution systems and the financial and logistics sources behind them. Partner access runs on electronic tokens, and "SCOs are required to identify and maintain contact with the primary and alternate host nation administrators for SCIP tokens" (SAMM C2.1.5.1). The systems themselves are described in the systems an FMS case runs on.

The second is a file. Case files at the embassy "should contain copies of LORs, CTAs, technology release documents, LOAs and any amendments, shipping documents, title transfer documents for Building Partner Capacity (BPC) cases, the current DD Form 645" (SAMM C2.1.5.2), along with meeting notes and closure documents. The manual expects it to be less extensive than the case manager’s file, not absent.

One further duty is commercial in nature. "SCOs should be prepared to address common partner nation requests associated with sole source selection, participation in contract negotiations, requests for contract data, payment of contingent fees, and offsets" (SAMM C2.1.5.3). Every item on that list is something a partner is likely to ask a supplier about as well.

7. Which meetings the office may attend

Attendance at reviews is governed by who pays. Attending security assistance reviews covering all active cases for the country, or all cases for one military department, is a proper administrative expense for the office (SAMM C2.1.5.5).

Case specific meetings are treated differently. "travel or attendance at case-specific reviews, such as program management reviews (PMRs), is not an FMS Administrative funded function for the SCO" (SAMM C2.1.5.5), and the decision does not sit with the embassy either: "The MILDEP CM determines whether SCO representation is required at a case-specific review" (SAMM C2.1.5.5). Case reviews generally are covered in foreign military sales case reviews.

8. What a supplier can take from this

The embassy office is the best informed party on a case that a supplier can reach without going through the partner ministry. It has read the request, drafted the assessment behind it, seen the offered agreement, and holds a file of the release and shipping documents.

It is also constrained in ways that are easy to misread as reluctance. It cannot fund travel to a program review on its own authority, and the decision to invite it belongs to the case manager. Where a supplier wants embassy presence at a case specific meeting, the request goes to the case manager, not to the embassy.

Key terms

Country team assessment	The embassy drafted assessment that must accompany certain requests, coordinated across the country team.
Offered status	The state in which an agreement can still be changed, before the purchaser signs and before the offer expires.
SCIP token	The electronic credential through which a partner government reaches case data, administered by named host nation staff.
Program management review	A case specific meeting the embassy office cannot fund itself, and attends only if the case manager requires it.

Every statement above links to the document behind it. The full source list for this piece is on the sources page.

This page describes public United States government programs for general information. It is not legal, regulatory or procurement advice, and it does not address the facts of any particular case.

How Sentfore supports this

The office in the embassy is usually the best informed party on a case in country. Sentfore works at the delivery end of defense programs in difficult environments, providing secure movement, protective security, facilities and life support around equipment and people once they arrive. Requirements can be sent through the contact page.