- How is military training bought through Foreign Military Sales?
A partner nation buys U.S. military training on a training line of a Foreign Military Sales case, either on the case for the equipment it supports or on a separate training case, paid with its own funds or with Foreign Military Financing. The tuition rate it pays depends on how the training is funded.
- What is IMET?
International Military Education and Training (IMET) is a Department of State program, jointly managed with DSCA, that funds military education and training for foreign military and related civilian personnel, mostly at U.S. military schoolhouses. It is not Foreign Military Sales: initial and technical training for equipment a country buys through Foreign Military Sales goes on the FMS case.
- Who manages international military training in each U.S. military service?
Each military service has a security assistance training activity that plans and executes its international training: the Air Force Security Assistance Training Squadron (AFSAT), the Army Security Assistance Training Field Activity (SATFA), the Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity (NETSAFA) for the maritime services, working with counterpart offices in the Marine Corps and Coast Guard. They program the training a country requests, obtain and confirm course quotas, and handle the funding.
- How is an international military training program planned?
Each year the security cooperation office, with the partner nation, writes a Combined Education and Training Program Plan setting out the country's training goals and requests for the budget year and the planning year. The combatant command reviews it and hosts a Security Cooperation Education and Training Working Group, where the Department of State, DSCA and the military services' training activities review and approve the requests. Approved training is programmed and tracked on the country's Standard Training List.
- Do international military students need to speak English?
Yes, for most courses. Training in U.S. military schools is conducted in English, apart from a few Spanish-language schools. Each course sets a minimum English Comprehension Level, students are tested in country and again at their first U.S. training location, and a student who falls short can attend general or specialized English training at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center before the follow-on course.
- What is an invitational travel order?
An invitational travel order (ITO) is the controlling document that authorizes an international military student to travel to and attend U.S. military training. The security cooperation office in the student's country generates it in the Security Cooperation Training Management System, one ITO per student, once the student has cleared in-country screening. It states where and when the student trains, the funding for travel and living allowances, and the support and privileges the student is entitled to.
- What does an international military student officer do?
An international military student officer (IMSO) is the person a U.S. training installation designates to look after its international military students: billeting, messing, administration and welfare while they train. The IMSO also runs the installation's Field Studies Program, which shows students U.S. society and institutions outside the classroom. Where the Implementing Agency authorizes it, a country training many students may assign its own country liaison officers to handle its students' administration and discipline.
- Can international military students attend classified training?
Yes, but only on a need-to-know basis and case by case. Each request is decided under the National Disclosure Policy, the military department's regulations and the security agreements between the United States and the country. The student's government must certify in writing, among other things, that the student holds a valid security clearance and that the information will not be passed to another nation without U.S. permission.
- What is a mobile training team?
A mobile training team (MTT) is a team of U.S. personnel on temporary duty who train international personnel in their own country, often on the equipment the country has bought. Training teams can be cheaper and quicker than sending many students to U.S. schools, and can be tailored to the country. An MTT bought through Foreign Military Sales is furnished under a Letter of Offer and Acceptance and may cross fiscal years. Longer-term support comes from field training services and technical assistance field teams.
- Is there a penalty for canceling international military training?
Yes. A country that cancels or reschedules a U.S. military training course late, or whose student does not complete the course, can be charged part of the tuition, and all of it for contract courses and courses dedicated to international students, unless another student fills the seat. The charge falls on the country's Foreign Military Sales case or grant program. No penalty applies when the cancellation is caused by a U.S. decision or by unavoidable circumstances in the country.
- What is the Foreign Military Training Report?
The Foreign Military Training Report (FMTR) is the annual report to Congress, required by Section 656 of the Foreign Assistance Act, on the military training the Department of War and the Department of State gave foreign military personnel in the previous fiscal year and propose for the current one. Training on Foreign Military Sales cases is reported alongside grant programs. DSCA collects the data and the Department of State publishes the unclassified portions.
