Defense Security Cooperation Agency

I really desperately wanted to be able to continue using my ambition for Asia Pacific work, and the only jobs available were Middle East related.

So I ended up getting a job at DSCA, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the headquarters for all FMS and largely for most security cooperation, except for the parts taken care of by State Department or other areas doing Middle East work, mostly related to Egypt and Lebanon.

I can't remember the name of the, the Army officer that I worked with, who was a lieutenant colonel at the time and got promoted to colonel.

I, I gotta look up his name.

And I would say for a FAO, if you're not going as a contractor or government employee, that is a tremendous place as well to have a utilization assignment.

Where is that one?

DSCA, Defense Security-

DSCA.

So I do think that one of the benefits that they have is these organizations have existed for a long time.

What's happening now is really more of a consolidation and a capturing of these disparate activities across combatant commands in our embassies, within the folks that acquire military equipment for the military services, and then within the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which is sort of the DOD lead agency for these efforts.

They've always worked together relatively well.

What's happening now is trying to figure out how to integrate that as a new, more closely aligned workforce.

And here, this is the part that's interesting.

Furthermore, the HDB's advice and recommendations are vital for navigating the complex legal and operational boundaries of domestic military operations, ensuring the DSCA is executed effectively.

[lip smacks] I like that.

The DoD requires the advice and recommendations of a dedicated independent body of experts to navigate this complex threat landscape.

The US government acts as the intermediary and the seller.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the DSCA, is the lead agency.

When a foreign nation submits a formal request, the DSCA reviews it.

And if it gets the green light, the agency notifies Congress through a formal congressional notification.

Congress then has 30 days to object before the process continues.

The way I prefer to look at this process is it's all the more reason for defense primes to be heavily engaged with the U.S. government.

In the United States, that means being dialed in very directly with Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the implementing agencies like SAFIA and others.

And then on the local side in the region, it means that we're directly engaged across the board with US embassies, the offices of defense programs, street cooperation, depending on the name, so that we can come in and articulate a single US position with regard to kind of how the technology release and review process is going.

Because we have that as a requirement, it's something that has to be acknowledged.

That's a couple things to flag.

The Defense Secretary Cooperation Agency, or I guess it's the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

I misspoke that.

The Pentagon office that manages foreign arms sales has not published formal congressional notification yet.

This episode examines why security assistance succeeds with some partners and falls short with others, and what it takes to turn weapons and training into lasting military capability.

I am joined by Lieutenant General Charles Hooper, who served in the US Army for 41 years before retiring, and was a former director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

DSCA, of course, is the agency responsible for the sale of all US weapons, military equipment, support services, and training packages to foreign governments.

Our other guests are Dr. Richard Bennett, who is a senior research associate at the Center for International and Security Studies in the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, and Dr. Alex Noyes, who is a senior fellow at Brookings, who previously served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy working on security cooperation.

This is an endeavor that has defied objective metrics, okay, which is why it's so difficult to communicate to decision-makers and budgeteers how it's effective, why not.

It's an inherently human endeavor.

So, you know, what does constitute effectiveness in, in this particular case? And of course, DSCA and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the enterprise have spent years trying to find effective, quantifiable metrics to measure success here.

Suffice to say, I, I think that effectiveness can be measured by whether or not ally or partner can reliably perform the missions both countries need it to perform.