Defense

Defense Security Cooperation Service reaches full operating capability

The Defense Security Cooperation Service will ensure ensuring that security cooperation officers are better prepared to engage with allies and partners.

Anastasia Obis

October 1, 2024 6:12 pm

3 min read

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Service has reached its initial operating capability, a key milestone in the department’s effort to formalize and professionalize its security cooperation workforce.

The launch of the Security Cooperation Service is part of the dozens of reforms compiled by the Pentagon’s tiger team, which was tasked with improving the foreign military sales process in 2022.

The Defense Security Cooperation Service is similar to the Defense Attaché Service but focuses on ensuring that security cooperation officers are better prepared to engage with allies and partners throughout the foreign arms transfer process.

“Launching the DSCS has been a priority for two reasons. First, it’s a critical pathway to strengthen relationships with allies and partners, which is a key component of our national defense strategy. And second, DSCS will develop a workforce that can adapt to the dynamic geopolitical environment while simultaneously bringing expertise into the security cooperation environment,” Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Amanda Dory said on Tuesday.

During its review, the tiger team focused on six key FMS “pressure points,” recommending the establishment of the security cooperation services. The effort received support from Congress — lawmakers codified the DSCS in the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill.

“The education, training and programs that come from today’s launch of DSCS will set the department on a trajectory to meet the demands of tomorrow,” Dory said.

The DSCS will offer a range of services, including HR training, logistics, budgeting, policy support, and family care.

Additionally, DSCS will improve the training experience for its workforce — it’s relaunching a certification program for all security cooperation personnel, alongside a new curriculum for security cooperation officers. The course is being moved to Washington, D.C., to take advantage of the expertise and resources in the area.

“These changes aim to professionalize the security cooperation workforce, ensuring they are well-prepared to execute their roles effectively and become a key part of U.S. national security strategy,” said Saul Bracero, the first director of the DSCS.

From October 2023 to September 2024. U.S. allies purchased over $107 billion worth of military equipment from the U.S., a $25 billion increase from the previous year. In fiscal 2022, the U.S. transferred approximately $50.9 billion in military equipment.

During the past year, the security cooperation enterprise has managed over 16,000 foreign military sales cases and conducted more than 600 advisory, education, and training engagements.

“That is not the full scope of that work, not by a long shot, but clearly there is tremendous appetite for U.S. security cooperation. To meet this call, we must invest in deliberately developed, professionally trained and a fully supported workforce,” said Mike Miller, the director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.

The foreign military sales process has been plagued by bureaucratic inefficiencies, lack of communication with allies and partners, and lengthy approval processes, among other issues. The Defense Department has been working to reform the process for the past two decades but a lot of recommendations from previous overhaul efforts were never implemented.

“The DSCS will be an important new tool for strengthening and supporting this international system. A fully professionalized, well supported workforce will be the backbone of our security cooperation relationships with allies and partners throughout the world in the years to come. The DSCS workforce will be the tip of the spear in identifying capability gaps and connecting partners to the expertise, the resources and support,” Miller said.