Obama to Eskan

       The challenge I’m accepting this time is being able to explain my command’s existence from the White House to Eskan Village.  Hopefully, I’ve been able to establish why the US and Saudi Arabia are partners.  Now I want to help you understand how the United States Military Training Mission to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (my command) materialized out of this relationship.

I understand if you find yourself napping between paragraphs.  I’ll try to use my uncanny ability to reduce intellectual insight to elementary musings.

The President, once during their term, issues a National Security Strategy.  The Department of Defense (MUSCLE) and Department of State (DIPLOMACY NERDS) each write their own plan to support the NSS.  The Secretary of Defense writes the National Defense Strategy to assess threats to the objectives and interests outlined in the NSS, while the Secretary of State writes the Strategic Plan to provide priorities and direction to both the State Department and USAID.

On the DoD side of the house, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs comes up with the National Military Strategy to support both plans from DoD and DoS.  The Military Strategy begets 2 subsequent documents: Guidance for Employment of the Force (near term) and Guidance for Development of the Force (long term).  The consideration of State objectives in penning these docs forces a holistic approach to strategy and planning in order to avoid conflicting guidance and resource constraints.

The GEF is given to the geographic combatant commands.  Mine happens to be Central Command or USCENTCOM, headquartered on MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida.  CENTCOM’s area of responsibility or ‘theater’ is the Middle East (Egypt to Jordan to any country ending in -stan).  CENTCOM makes theater plans supported by regional plans supported by country plans.

Meanwhile, back at the Batcave (…uh…I mean the State Department), similar nesting of subordinate plans make their way down to the embassy and ambassador level.  

Country plan (DoD) meets embassy plan (DoS) and bingo, bango, blam-o …a security cooperation/assistance organization 'tis born.  The SAO for Saudi Arabia is the United States Military Training Mission.  The embassy provides the country-level foreign assistance budget, to include Foreign Military Financing and International Military Education and Training.  The security assistance programs ran by USMTM are classified in 3 ways: Equipment, Services, and Training; Training and Education; and Military-to-Military exchanges.

Foreign Military Sales is the largest and most well-known of US security cooperation programs.  FMS is a Title 22 security assistance program (security assistance simply means a security cooperation program that’s carried out by the military) that allows our international partners to procure defense articles (planes, tanks and guns – oh my), services (maintenance and support of planes, tanks and guns), and training (how to use planes tanks and guns).

Wake up – you’re drooling on your keyboard.