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Assistance Organizations (SAOs) are 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.
SAOs
go by different names in different countries. In Latin America and
the Caribbean, names include Military Groups (MILGROUPs), Military
Assistance Advisory Groups (MAAGs), Military Liaison Offices (MLOs),
and Offices of the Defense Representative (ODRs). In general, they
are not to be confused with defense attachés, who normally play
a more diplomatic role; many embassies have both defense attachés
and SAOs.
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
- Carrying
out other liaison functions.
Typically,
these responsibilities require an SAO to carry out the following
tasks listed in The Management of Security Assistance, a
Defense Department manual:
- Provide
foreign governments with information they need to help them decide
whether to buy U.S. defense articles and services. This information
might concern the acquisition, use, and training needed to obtain
these items;
- Evaluate
host countries' military capabilities, in order to process security
assistance requests;
- Acquire
information concerning foreign governments' potential future defense
acquisitions;
- Help
U.S. military departments (such as the Army or Navy) arrange security
assistance for recipient countries;
- Assist
host governments in identifying, administering, and disposing
of excess security assistance materiel;
- Report
on the use of defense articles and services granted as aid to
the host country, as well as personnel trained by the United States;
- Inform
other Defense Department offices with security-assistance responsibilities
of security assistance activities in host countries;
- Perform
secondary functions, such as advisory and training services and
negotiation on non-security assistance military matters; and
- Perform
command and administrative functions.1
SAOs
also coordinate or participate in activities not traditionally regarded
as "security assistance," such as exercises
and deployments, humanitarian
civic assistance activities, exchanges, conferences and other
military-to-military contact programs.
Section
515 (e) of the Foreign Assistance Act states that SAOs are to be
under the direct supervision of the Ambassador to the country in
which they are stationed. However, The Management of Security
Assistance probably reflects reality more closely: "The
Chief of the SAO is essentially responsible to three authorities:
the Ambassador (who heads up the country team), the Commander of
the Unified Command [in this case the U.S. Southern
Command], and the Director, Defense Security
Cooperation Agency."2
Funding
for the portion of SAO salaries and operating costs used to manage
security assistance comes from the Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
program and from administrative surcharges on Foreign Military Sales
(FMS).
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Section
515 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195, or the "FAA"),
as amended, governs SAO staffing and responsibilities.
Limitations
Section
515(b) mandates that SAOs keep advisory and training assistance
to an absolute minimum. This provision's intent is to specify that
SAOs should manage training and advice provided by others, not carry
it out themselves.
The
number of military members of an SAO cannot exceed six unless specifically
authorized by Congress. Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras are the
only Western Hemisphere countries allowed to exceed this limit.
Section
515(f) orders the President to instruct SAOs that they "should
not encourage, promote, or influence the purchase by any foreign
country of United States-made military equipment, unless they are
specifically instructed to do so by an appropriate official of the
executive branch."
Reporting
SAO
staff sizes must be included in the Congressional Presentation
documents submitted each February with the administration's budget
request.
Notification
If
the President wishes to exceed the maximum of six military SAO members,
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International
Relations Committee must be notified 30 days in advance.
If
the President wishes to exceed the number of military SAO members
listed in the yearly State Department Congressional Presentation
(even if the number will not exceed six), the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee
must be notified 30 days in advance.
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