U.S. Army Security Assistance Command
By scott r. gourley âForeign Military Sales [FMS] is a Department of State program executed by DSCA [Defense Security Cooperation Agency] within the Department of Defense,â explained Maj. Gen. Frank D. Turner III, commanding general, U.S. Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC). âAt USASAC, we are the âco-lead,â with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation [DASA (DE&C)] to be the implementing agent for all of the U.S. Army sales under the FMS program. âUSASACâs mission is to develop and manage Security Assistance programs globally â primarily Foreign Military Sales,â Turner said. âWe have three different objectives: to build partner capacity; to support the engagement strategies of combatant commanders around the globe; and to strengthen U.S. global partnerships.â Turner stressed the importance of the third objective â to build and to strengthen relationships, noting, âThe Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. [Raymond T.] Odierno, has a great saying in one of his strategic documents: That is to âcultivate friends before you need them.â And thatâs what we do. So, the way I explain our mission to our employees and others inside the Security Assistance enterprise is that Security Assistance and Foreign Military Sales are tools that we use to
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advance our national security objectives. They are really a means to an end of building and maintaining relationships with foreign countries.â The formal USASAC organization is rather small, with only 420 to 430 direct employees inside the command. âBut whatâs more i mpor ta nt i s that they lead a Security Assistance enterprise that is as big as 9,000 to 10,000 people who are involved in
âEvery time you build an FMS case, you are building necessary security capabilities in that country and youâre maintaining close ties with their military and government.â
this effort,â Turner explained. âSo weâre a small organization leading a very large enterprise. We donât exercise command and control over most of those involved in the enterprise. But we do get everybody moving in the right direction in executing the delivery of capabilities that foreign governments desire and contract for.â Turner highlighted many of the other enterprise organizations, including Life Cycle Management Commands (LCMCs) in Army Materiel Command like Tank-automotive and Armaments Com ma nd, Av iat ion a nd M i s si le Command, Joint Munitions Command, a nd Com mu n icat ion s-Elect ron ics Command. In addition, he noted the critical contributions of U.S. Army Contracting Command in performing the underlying contracting services as well as the program executive offices and program managers who assist in system acquisition. âWe use the same structure that the U.S. Army acquisition programs use to satisfy Foreign Military Sales demand,â he observed, adding, âIt is the orchestration of that enterprise toward Foreign Military Sales that USASAC performs.â In add it ion to headq ua r ters personnel, the current orchestration of FMS programs includes the work