Using Foreign Military Sales to Support Military-to-Military Cooperation

The United States (U.S.) military organizations have a variety of programs available to cultivate relationships with foreign militaries. These run the gamut from subject matter expert exchanges (SMEEs) and conferences to large bilateral and multilateral exercises. Most of the time, U.S. funds are allocated for these activities since they serve to enhance U.S. capabilities. However, in some cases funding for a proposed exchange may be problematic, usually because the activity benefits the foreign partner rather than, or at least more than, the U.S. In these situations, it may be possible to use funding provided through foreign military sales (FMS) cases.

We normally do not think of FMS as a way to strengthen military-to-military cooperation. Instead, FMS is most often seen merely as the way we sell stuff to other countries. However, FMS may also be used to supplement military cooperation efforts. For example, let us assume that the country of "Bandaria" has purchased large quantities of U.S. military equipment. The Bandarian Ministry of Defense (MOD) recognizes that it cannot just rely on hardware if it wants to get full benefit of the weapon systems that it has procured. It also wants to focus on the non-material tools it needs to more effectively use what it has bought. These may include organizational structure and procedures, training techniques, leadership development models, needs assessments, information management, and many more areas of concern. Bandaria may ask the U.S. for assistance with this effort in the form of military-to-military activities such as U.S. assessments of Bandarian units, U.S. observers at exercises, conferences, mobile training teams (MTTs), and SMEEs. These cooperation programs may be conducted between organizations at the national level, service-to-service, or between military organizations in theater. Since this is a Bandarian initiative for the benefit of Bandaria, MOD may offer to fund U.S. participation via FMS.

There are at least four kinds of FMS tools we may use in this scenario. All have advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, they are not mutually exclusive. It may be possible to use all four tools in concert to develop a more robust cooperation program.

Defined Order Cases

One option would be to write a separate Defined Order (DO) case to fund a particular cooperation program. The greatest strength of a DO case is that it specifies the assistance Bandaria has purchased. This may allow the program managers on both sides of the partnership to focus on specific, clearly defined objectives rather being distracted by competing priorities. Note, however, that while the scope of a DO case must be spelled out, it is not necessary to tie the case to a specific piece of equipment. For example, we should be able to write a case to support a SMEE on attack helicopter operations without specifying the model of helicopter under discussion.

Availability of funds is another strength of a DO case. When Bandaria MOD signs an FMS case, it is obligating the funds to execute it, so we can be sure that money has been earmarked and is available for this particular event. …

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