The security cooperation workforce

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1. A statutory program for the people who do the work

Security cooperation is carried out by people spread across embassies, combatant commands, the military departments and Defense Agencies. Title 10 requires the Secretary of Defense to run the Department of Defense Security Cooperation Workforce Development Program to oversee the development and management of that workforce (10 U.S.C. 384(a)). The program covers the assessment, planning, monitoring, execution, evaluation and administration of the chapter’s security cooperation programs. It also covers the Department’s execution of security assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act.

The stated purpose is to improve the quality and professionalism of the workforce (10 U.S.C. 384(b)). The workforce must have the capacity, in personnel and skills, to perform its mission and to ensure the Department receives the best value for the public money it spends. It must also be assigned so that people with the right expertise and experience fill requirements in sufficient numbers.

2. Who is in the workforce

The statute defines the security cooperation workforce in six parts (10 U.S.C. 384(j)). It includes service members and Defense Department civilians working in the security cooperation organizations of American missions overseas. It includes those in the geographic and functional combatant commands who plan, monitor or conduct security cooperation. It includes those in the military departments who perform security cooperation activities, including work on technology release policies.

The rest of the definition reaches wider. It includes military and civilian personnel of Defense Agencies and Field Activities who perform security cooperation activities, and personnel who carry out assessments, monitoring or evaluations of the Department’s programs. It also includes others who contribute significantly by virtue of their assigned duties, as determined under the human capital initiative (10 U.S.C. 384(j)).

3. Tracking positions and people

The program’s elements start with accounting (10 U.S.C. 384(c)). There must be a comprehensive system to track all Defense Department personnel in the workforce. It draws on the systems of record of the military departments, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the combatant commands, Defense Agencies, Field Activities and the National Guard. A management information system must collect standardized information on the qualification, assignments and tenure of people in security cooperation positions.

Positions are coded. At least semi-annually, a formal manpower document must go to the Defense Security Cooperation University. Each military department, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and each combatant command, Defense Agency, Field Activity and National Guard unit must send one (10 U.S.C. 384(d)(2)). The document lists each security cooperation position in the organization and uniquely codes every such position in component manpower systems.

4. A defense security cooperation service

One element concerns the offices overseas directly. The program must establish a defense security cooperation service to ensure that American security cooperation organizations at overseas missions have the personnel, and the skills, needed to perform their missions (10 U.S.C. 384(c)(4)). It includes service members and civilians in those organizations performing security cooperation functions, regardless of funding source. It also includes Defense Department personnel performing functions under section 515 of the Foreign Assistance Act, the provision on uniformed staff who manage programs from embassies.

5. Management and the human capital initiative

The Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency manages the program (10 U.S.C. 384(d)(1)). The Defense Security Cooperation University is designated as the lead entity for implementing it. Its duties include tracking all Defense Department employees in the security cooperation enterprise, and specifying training requirements at the proficiency level each position needs (10 U.S.C. 384(d)(2)).

Career management sits in a human capital initiative within the University (10 U.S.C. 384(e)). It directs the establishment of professional career paths covering training and education standards, promotion, retention and the scope of workforce demands. It defines training and certification requirements for positions, tracks skills and certifications, and sets up professional certification in different career tracks and levels of competency. It provides for assigning appropriately certified people to key positions. It identifies the right mix of career and temporary personnel and the positions to be managed through the program.

6. The University and the sales center of excellence

The Secretary must issue a charter for the Defense Security Cooperation University (10 U.S.C. 384(g)). Its mission includes managing international military training and education programs executed by the Department, managing and providing institutional capacity-building services, and advancing the profession through research, data collection, analysis, publication and learning. The University is treated as a government-operated federal laboratory for cooperative research and development agreements, and research contracts, cooperative agreements and grants may be made through it.

The University may also accept research grants. With authorization through the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, its President may accept competitively awarded grants from organizations operated primarily for scientific, literary or educational purposes. The work must be done by its professors or instructors for such a purpose (10 U.S.C. 384(g)(4)).

A separate element focuses on Foreign Military Sales. The Secretary must direct a Defense Department educational institution with the requisite expertise to serve as a Foreign Military Sales Center of Excellence (10 U.S.C. 384(f)). Its objectives include research on and promotion of best practices for timely and effective sales, and enhancing curricula so the sales workforce is fully trained and prepared.

7. Money, reports and review

The program is paid for from Defense Security Cooperation Agency funds and other security cooperation funds, identified in the consolidated budget. Amounts may be transferred to accounts of the military departments or Defense Agencies for program purposes (10 U.S.C. 384(h) and 10 U.S.C. 384(i)).

Every two years the Secretary reports to the Armed Services Committees (10 U.S.C. 384(k)). The report identifies current and projected manpower requirements, including expeditionary requirements, and critical skill gaps with strategies to close them. It compares competency proficiency with targets, identifies exceptions and waivers to qualification, assignment and tenure policies, and gives relative promotion rates. It also says whether the funds requested or allocated are sufficient to close skill gaps and to recruit and retain high-quality personnel. The Comptroller General must independently evaluate the Department’s implementation (10 U.S.C. 384(l)). The budgeting and oversight rules around it are covered in how Defense Department security cooperation is managed.

Key terms

Security cooperation workforce	The six statutory groups of service members and civilians who plan, run or evaluate security cooperation.
Defense Security Cooperation University	The lead entity for implementing the workforce program, chartered by the Secretary of Defense.
Human capital initiative	The University’s mechanism for career paths, certification and assignment of the workforce.
Defense security cooperation service	The element that staffs overseas security cooperation organizations with qualified people.
Foreign Military Sales Center of Excellence	An educational institution directed to improve training and education for sales planning and execution.

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.

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