Foreign area officer
Encyclopedia
A Foreign Area Officer is a commissioned officer
from any of the four branches of the United States Armed Forces
who is a regionally focused expert in political
-military
operations. Such officers possess a unique combination of strategic focus and regional expertise, with political, cultural
, sociological
, economic
, and geographic
awareness. Foreign language proficiency is necessary in at least one of the dominant languages in their specified region.
An FAO will typically serve overseas tours as a defense attaché
, a security assistance officer
, or as a political-military planner in a service's headquarters, Joint Staff
, Major Command
s, Unified Combatant Command
s, or in agencies of the Department of Defense
. They also serve as arms control
specialists, country desk officers, liaison officer
s, and Personal Exchange Program
officer to host nation or coalition allies. Recently, increasing numbers of FAOs are serving as political and cultural advisors to combatant staffs in support of the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan
. Presently, there are just over 2,200 FAOs in active operational capacities, while roughly 25 percent are still in training. The services plan to recruit and train more than 170 a year, with almost 1,100 new FAOs entering the program by 2014.
Roles and responsibilities of FAOs are extensive and varied. They advise senior leaders on political-military operations and relations with other nations, provide cultural expertise to forward-deployed commands conducting military operations, built and maintain long-term relationships with foreign leaders, develop and coordinate security cooperation, execute security assistance programs with host nations, and develop reports on diplomatic, information, military, and economic activities.
Army FAOs are categorized by areas of concentration that correspond with their respective military occupational specialty, further grouped in scope by functional areas. Army FAOs are divided into ten categories (nine of them being regional areas of expertise) based on regional studies and language skills:
community of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command
. The Navy currently has 212 FAOs either fully qualified or in training. Navy FAOs are assigned the following designators:
Navy FAOs are apportioned regionally amongst the six Unified Combatant Command
s, geographically referred as an area of responsibility
:
16: 16F for RAS and 16P for PAS. PAS development begins in conjunction with Intermediate Developmental Education, and officers serve in similar positions as RAS officers do, but perform duties that require a broad knowledge of political-military affairs rather than regional expertise with foreign language skills. RAS officers are distributed amongst the following subcategories:
FAO training varies amongst all four DoD branches, but usually takes a minimum of 3–5 years before FAOs can utilize their skills in an operational capacity, depending upon the qualifications of the candidate at the time of accession.
A long road exists between accession and full FAO qualification. It takes between 3–5 years of training, education, and actual FAO tour performance before FAO trainees are ever even considered for full designation and qualification as an FAO. Standard requirements of fully qualified FAOs generally include the following:
The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
is the proponent for FAO programs for the DoD. He or she establishes DoD accession, education, and utilization policy for Foreign Area Officers. FAO guidance, directives, and standards for all military branch FAO programs are promulgated by DoD Directive 1315.17. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
oversees FAO capabilities, needs, and utilization in the DoD Agencies that they respectively supervise. For combat support activities, such oversight is conducted in conjunction with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Defense Language Office
ensures a strategic focus on meeting present and future requirements for language and regional expertise, among military and civilian employees. This office's main responsibilities are to oversee and manage the implementation of a comprehensive Department-wide Language Transformation Roadmap; identify policy, procedural, and resource needs associated with providing needed language capability; oversee policy regarding the development, management, and utilization of civilian employees and members of the Armed Forces; and conduct research and analyze studies, reports, and lessons learned from the Global War on Terrorism and current military operations as they pertain to language and regional area expertise.
, though general and flag officer
s include General
John Abizaid
, Lieutenant General
Karl Eikenberry
, Lieutenant General Keith Dayton
, Brigadier General
Charles Hooper, Brigadier General Richard M. Lake, Brigadier General Henry Nowak, Brigadier General Mark O’Neill, Brigadier General Kevin Ryan, and Rear Admiral Douglas Venlet.
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
from any of the four branches of the United States Armed Forces
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
who is a regionally focused expert in political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
-military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
operations. Such officers possess a unique combination of strategic focus and regional expertise, with political, cultural
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
, sociological
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, economic
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
, and geographic
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
awareness. Foreign language proficiency is necessary in at least one of the dominant languages in their specified region.
An FAO will typically serve overseas tours as a defense attaché
Military attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission . This post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer who retains the commission while serving in an embassy...
, a security assistance officer
United States Security Assistance Organizations
United States Security Assistance Organizations are military and civilian personnel stationed in foreign countries to manage security assistance and other military programs. SAOs are closest to these programs' operation and have the closest contact with host-country militaries.SAOs go by different...
, or as a political-military planner in a service's headquarters, Joint Staff
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff is a body of senior uniformed leaders in the United States Department of Defense who advise the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council, the National Security Council and the President on military matters...
, Major Command
Major Command
Major Command or Major Commands are large formations of the United States Armed Forces. Historically, a MAJCOM is the highest level of command.There are two types of Major Commands in the United States military:...
s, Unified Combatant Command
Unified Combatant Command
A Unified Combatant Command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide effective command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of...
s, or in agencies of the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. They also serve as arms control
Arms control
Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
specialists, country desk officers, liaison officer
Liaison officer
A liaison officer or LNO is a person that liaises between two organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities. Generally, they are used to achieve the best utilization of resources or employment of services of one organization by another. In the military, liaison officers may...
s, and Personal Exchange Program
Exchange officer
An exchange officer is a commissioned officer in a country's armed forces who is temporarily attached to a unit of the armed forces of another country....
officer to host nation or coalition allies. Recently, increasing numbers of FAOs are serving as political and cultural advisors to combatant staffs in support of the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
. Presently, there are just over 2,200 FAOs in active operational capacities, while roughly 25 percent are still in training. The services plan to recruit and train more than 170 a year, with almost 1,100 new FAOs entering the program by 2014.
Roles and responsibilities of FAOs are extensive and varied. They advise senior leaders on political-military operations and relations with other nations, provide cultural expertise to forward-deployed commands conducting military operations, built and maintain long-term relationships with foreign leaders, develop and coordinate security cooperation, execute security assistance programs with host nations, and develop reports on diplomatic, information, military, and economic activities.
Army
The Army utilizes a single-track FAO program managed by G-35, SSF, which is the Strategic Leadership Division. It is by far the largest and oldest FAO program in the Services. The Proponent Office is responsible for establishing policy guidance and FAO career field development as well as establishing specific programs focused on the accession, training, education, distribution, utilization, deployment, and separation of FAOs. Currently, there are 1,257 Army FAOs either in training or fully qualified.Army FAOs are categorized by areas of concentration that correspond with their respective military occupational specialty, further grouped in scope by functional areas. Army FAOs are divided into ten categories (nine of them being regional areas of expertise) based on regional studies and language skills:
- 48A – General (requiring no regional expertise)
- 48B - Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
- 48C – EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
- 48D – South AsiaSouth AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
- 48E – EurasiaEurasiaEurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
- 48F – ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
- 48G – Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
- 48H – Northeast AsiaNortheast AsiaNortheast Asia and Northeastern Asia refers to the northeastern subregion of Asia. Though the precise definition of Northeast Asia changes according to context, it always includes Japan and the Korean Peninsula, and is sometimes used to refer to these two regions exclusively.-Definitions:The...
- 48I – Southeast AsiaSoutheast AsiaSoutheast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
- 48J – AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, southSub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
of the SaharaSaharaThe Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
Marine Corps
The International Affairs Officer Program replaced the FAO and International Relations Officer Program in the Marine Corps in 2000, which is an umbrella program that governs two separate, but interrelated military occupational specialty: the Foreign Area Officer (994x) and the Regional Affairs Officer (982x) designations. Much like the USAF dual-track system, RAOs are basically FAOs without local language skills. There are approximately 280 FAOs and 80 RAOs in the Marine Corps, distributed amongst the following specialties:- 9821 – RAO Latin America
- 9822 – RAO former Soviet UnionPost-Soviet statesThe post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
- 9823 - RAO China
- 9824 – RAO Middle East/North AfricaNorth AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
- 9825 – RAO Sub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaSub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
- 9826 – RAO Southwest Asia
- 9827 – Western EuropeWestern EuropeWestern Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
- 9828 – Eastern AsiaEast AsiaEast Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
(excluding China) - 9829 – RAO Eastern EuropeEastern EuropeEastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
(excluding former Soviet Union) - 9940 – Basic FAO
- 9941 – FAO Latin America
- 9942 – FAO Former Soviet Union
- 9943 – FAO China
- 9944 – FAO Middle East/North Africa
- 9945 – FAO Sub-Saharan Africa
- 9946 – FAO Southwest Asia
- 9947 – FAO Western Europe
- 9948 – FAO East Asia (excluding China)
- 9949 – FAO Eastern Europe (excluding former Soviet Union)
Navy
The Navy FAO Branch is a restricted lineRestricted Line Officer
Restricted Line Officers in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve are line officers who are not eligible for Command at Sea. There are many different types and communities, including Engineering Duty Officers, Aerospace Engineering Duty Officers, Aerospace Maintenance Duty Officers, Naval...
community of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command
Navy Expeditionary Combat Command
The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command serves as the single functional command to centrally manage current and future readiness, resources, manning, training and equipping of the United States Navy's 40,000 expeditionary forces who are currently serving in every theater of operation. The NECC was...
. The Navy currently has 212 FAOs either fully qualified or in training. Navy FAOs are assigned the following designators:
- Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO) (Active Component only): 1710.
- Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO) in training (Active Component only): 1720, also known as FAO Under Instruction.
Navy FAOs are apportioned regionally amongst the six Unified Combatant Command
Unified Combatant Command
A Unified Combatant Command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide effective command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of...
s, geographically referred as an area of responsibility
Area of responsibility
Area Of Responsibility is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to a Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan , that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and conduct operations; for which a force, or component commander...
:
- United States European CommandUnited States European CommandThe United States European Command is one of ten Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and Israel...
- United States Central CommandUnited States Central CommandThe United States Central Command is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense...
- United States Africa CommandUnited States Africa CommandThe United States Africa Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all...
- United States Pacific CommandUnited States Pacific CommandThe United States Pacific Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States armed forces responsible for the Pacific Ocean area. It is led by the Commander, Pacific Command , who is the supreme military authority for the various branches of the Armed Forces of the United States serving...
- United States Southern CommandUnited States Southern CommandThe United States Southern Command , located in Miami, Florida, is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning and operations in Central and South America, the Caribbean The United States Southern Command...
- United States Northern CommandUnited States Northern CommandUnited States Northern Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the United States military. Created on 1 October 2002 in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, its mission is to protect the United States homeland and support local, state, and federal authorities...
Air Force
The International Affairs Specialist Program is the Air Force component, and encompasses two officer types: the Regional Affairs Strategist and Political-Military Affairs Strategist. Both tracks remain under the Air Force Specialty CodeAir Force Specialty Code
The Air Force Specialty Code is an alphanumeric code used by the United States Air Force to identify an Air Force Specialty . Officer AFSCs consist of four characters and enlisted AFSCs consist of five characters. A letter prefix or suffix may be used with an AFSC when more specific identification...
16: 16F for RAS and 16P for PAS. PAS development begins in conjunction with Intermediate Developmental Education, and officers serve in similar positions as RAS officers do, but perform duties that require a broad knowledge of political-military affairs rather than regional expertise with foreign language skills. RAS officers are distributed amongst the following subcategories:
- A – Attaché
- B – Central Asia/East Europe/Russia
- C – Latin America
- D – East Asia/China
- E – Southeast Asia
- F – Middle East/North Africa
- G – Sub-Saharan Africa
- H – Western Europe
Accession & training
Acceptance into the FAO programs typically requires at least 7–10 years of commissioned service, since most FAO positions are designated for that of a field-grade officer (Marines being the exception, whom only require 3 years). The FAO accession process is lengthy process and requires meticulous review of every candidate applying. While all DoD branches are in the process of expanding their FAO (or FAO equivalent) Programs, FAO accession remains one of the most highly competitive processes of the US military. On average, more than eight candidates compete for every single FAO slot available. Generally speaking, applicants must have at a minimum the following:- Top secret/Sensitive Compartmented InformationClassified information in the United StatesThe United States government classification system is currently established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the...
security clearanceSecurity clearanceA security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e., state secrets, or to restricted areas after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal...
, (or at least be eligible) - Primary MOS or warfare area qualification
- Broad military experience in their assigned MOS
- A score of 95 or better on the Defense Language Aptitude BatteryDefense Language Aptitude BatteryThe Defense Language Aptitude Battery is a test used by the United States Department of Defense to test an individual's potential for learning a foreign language. It is used to determine who may pursue training as a military linguist. It consists of 126 multiple-choice questions, and the test is...
or a Defense Language Proficiency TestsDefense Language Proficiency TestsThe Defense Language Proficiency Test is a battery of foreign language tests produced by the Defense Language Institute and used by the United States Department of Defense. They are intended to assess the general language proficiency of native English speakers in a specific foreign language, in...
score of 2/2. - 2.7 GPAGrade (education)Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters , as a range , as a number out of a possible total , as descriptors , in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary...
or higher (on a scale of 4.0) with an undergraduate degreeUndergraduate degreeAn undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university... - Must have a rank of O3 or above
FAO training varies amongst all four DoD branches, but usually takes a minimum of 3–5 years before FAOs can utilize their skills in an operational capacity, depending upon the qualifications of the candidate at the time of accession.
- 1 year at the Naval Postgraduate SchoolNaval Postgraduate SchoolThe Naval Postgraduate School is an accredited research university operated by the United States Navy. Located in Monterey, California, it grants master's degrees, Engineer's degrees and doctoral degrees...
in Monterey, CaliforniaMonterey, CaliforniaThe City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
where a graduate degree is completed in national securityNational securityNational security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
affairs with an emphasis on the target region. - Foreign Area Officer Orientation Course, a 3-day introductory course into their career path.
- 6 - 15 months of basic language training, depending upon the language(s) selected and the level of difficulty, at either the Defense Language InstituteDefense Language InstituteThe Defense Language Institute is a United States Department of Defense educational and research institution, which provides linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other Federal Agencies and numerous and varied other customers...
Foreign Language Center in Monterey or Defense Language Institute-WashingtonWashington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. - 6-12 months conducting in-country training for area familiarization, language enrichment, professional development in the target region, etc.
- Subsequent FAO tours.
- Joint Foreign Area Officer Skill Sustainment Pilot Program, an advanced education course for mid-career FAOs piloted by political scientist Tristan James MabryTristan James MabryTristan James Mabry is an American political scientist in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California...
at the Naval Postgraduate School.
A long road exists between accession and full FAO qualification. It takes between 3–5 years of training, education, and actual FAO tour performance before FAO trainees are ever even considered for full designation and qualification as an FAO. Standard requirements of fully qualified FAOs generally include the following:
- Advanced degree(s) with a regional focus.
- Defense Language Proficiency Test score of 2 in listening and 2 in reading, and a goal of 1 in speaking.
- Regional Expertise at a level 3 or above, per Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Instruction 3126.01.
- Defense Language Aptitude Battery general score of 95 (prior to being considered for acceptance into the FAO program).
- Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance.
- Joint Professional Military EducationJoint Professional Military EducationJoint Professional Military Education is a form of Professional Military Education in the United States that emphasizes a multiservice approach. Joint Professional Military Education was established following greater awareness during World War II of a need for effective cooperation between the...
Phase 1 complete (if applicable, typically for Navy and Marines). - Overseas assignment and screening clearance.
- At least one overseas FAO tour in progress or completed.
The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness
The Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, or USD is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the United States Department of Defense responsible for advising the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on recruitment, career development, pay and...
is the proponent for FAO programs for the DoD. He or she establishes DoD accession, education, and utilization policy for Foreign Area Officers. FAO guidance, directives, and standards for all military branch FAO programs are promulgated by DoD Directive 1315.17. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all matters...
and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
The Under Secretary for Intelligence or USD is a high-ranking civilian position in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense that acts as the principal advisor and deputy to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense on matters relating to intelligence...
oversees FAO capabilities, needs, and utilization in the DoD Agencies that they respectively supervise. For combat support activities, such oversight is conducted in conjunction with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Defense Language Office
Defense Language Office
The Defense Language Office, an office within the United States Department of Defense, was established in May 2005 within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense...
ensures a strategic focus on meeting present and future requirements for language and regional expertise, among military and civilian employees. This office's main responsibilities are to oversee and manage the implementation of a comprehensive Department-wide Language Transformation Roadmap; identify policy, procedural, and resource needs associated with providing needed language capability; oversee policy regarding the development, management, and utilization of civilian employees and members of the Armed Forces; and conduct research and analyze studies, reports, and lessons learned from the Global War on Terrorism and current military operations as they pertain to language and regional area expertise.
Leadership
While promotion levels vary between the branches, retention rates of FAOs are higher than service averages. The bulk of the FAO community is primarily composed of field grade officersField officer
A field officer is an army, marine, or air force commissioned officer senior in rank to a company officer but junior to a general officer; in some navies, it is an officer who is a Lieutenant Commander, Commander, or Captain....
, though general and flag officer
Flag Officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in...
s include General
General (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
John Abizaid
John Abizaid
John Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...
, Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General (United States)
In the United States Army, the United States Air Force and the United States Marine Corps, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general...
Karl Eikenberry
Karl Eikenberry
Karl Winfrid Eikenberry is a retired United States Army Lieutenant General and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan.-Education:Eikenberry graduated from Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1969 and then attended West Point, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon...
, Lieutenant General Keith Dayton
Keith Dayton
Lieutenant General Keith W. Dayton, United States Army, is the director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. He completed his term as the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel-Palestinian Authority in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2010...
, Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Charles Hooper, Brigadier General Richard M. Lake, Brigadier General Henry Nowak, Brigadier General Mark O’Neill, Brigadier General Kevin Ryan, and Rear Admiral Douglas Venlet.
See also
- Defense Language InstituteDefense Language InstituteThe Defense Language Institute is a United States Department of Defense educational and research institution, which provides linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other Federal Agencies and numerous and varied other customers...
- Defense Language Aptitude BatteryDefense Language Aptitude BatteryThe Defense Language Aptitude Battery is a test used by the United States Department of Defense to test an individual's potential for learning a foreign language. It is used to determine who may pursue training as a military linguist. It consists of 126 multiple-choice questions, and the test is...
- Defense Language Proficiency TestsDefense Language Proficiency TestsThe Defense Language Proficiency Test is a battery of foreign language tests produced by the Defense Language Institute and used by the United States Department of Defense. They are intended to assess the general language proficiency of native English speakers in a specific foreign language, in...