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36-631: A 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 Commands , Unified Combatant Commands , or in agencies of the Department of Defense . They also serve as arms control specialists, country desk officers, liaison officers , and Military Personnel Exchange Program (MPEP) 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

72-420: A + designation for failure/inconsistency at the next higher level. Grades may be assigned separately for different skills such as reading, speaking, listening, writing, translation, audio translation, interpretation, and intercultural communication. For some of these skills, the level may be referred to with an abbreviation, for example, S-1 for Speaking Level 1. No communicative ability. Possibly able to speak

108-446: A broad knowledge of political-military affairs rather than regional expertise with foreign language skills. FAO officers require language skills and follow a more intensive, regionally focused pipeline with the following subcategories: FAOs start their training earlier due to their more intensive training pipeline, typically between 7–10 years of commissioned service, and will serve in alternating FAO and primary career field positions for

144-400: A few isolated words. A person who can satisfy their immediate needs using memorized phrases is rated 0+ on the scale. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 0+ individual: Elementary proficiency is rated 1 on the scale. The following describes the traits of an ILR Level 1 individual: The majority of individuals classified as Level 1 are able to perform most basic functions using

180-433: A field-grade officer (Marines being the exception, who only require 3 years). Generally speaking, applicants must have at a minimum the following: FAO training varies (depending candidate's skills at selection), but usually takes a minimum of 3–5 years before FAOs are qualified for operations: Standard requirements for full-qualification as a FAO generally include the following: Unlike its Active Component (AC) counterpart

216-459: A formal diplomatic practice, the defence attaché system is traced to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), when French Foreign Secretary Armand Jean du Plessis , First Duke of Richelieu dispatched military officers abroad to liaise with allied powers, monitor military developments and gather intelligence. In the 18th century, DAs were increasingly assigned to embassies, and by the 19th century

252-667: A liaison between United States Army and the Imperial General Headquarters , and gathered and disseminated intelligence . The military attaché's office in Tokyo usually had two assistants and a number of "language officers" who were assigned specifically to learn Japanese while attached to Imperial Japanese Army regiments as observers. These "language officers" translated training and technical manuals and reported on conditions in Japanese military units. During

288-814: A military attaché are illustrated by actions of U.S. military attachés in Japan around the time of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–1905. A series of military officers had been assigned to the American diplomatic mission in Tokyo since 1901, when the U.S. and Japan were co-operating closely in response to the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901 in China. The military attaché advised the United States Ambassador to Japan on military matters, acted as

324-458: A military attaché serves as a representative of their country's defense establishment , with responsibility over all aspects of bilateral military and defense relations. Their main roles include advising diplomatic officials on security matters and gathering intelligence on the host country's armed forces; they may also be tasked with other security issues, such as migration or law enforcement matters. The duties, qualifications, and management of

360-426: A military attaché varies between governments. The term " attaché " is French and denotes an individual who is assigned ("attached") to a diplomatic mission to fulfill a particular specialized function. Generically, a military or defense attaché may come from any branch of the armed forces, although some governments designate an attaché to represent a specific service branch, such as an air force or naval attaché. As

396-497: A position at length. While proficiency may match that of an educated native speaker, the individual is not necessarily perceived as culturally native due to occasional weaknesses in idioms, colloquialisms, slang, and cultural references. Native or bilingual proficiency is rated 5 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows: A table published by the American University Center of Provence gave

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432-883: Is a single-track FAO program managed by G-35, DAMO-SSF, which is the Strategic Leadership Division. It is the largest and oldest FAO program of 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 ~1,200 Army FAOs either in training or fully qualified. Army FAOs are categorized by areas of concentration that correspond with their respective Branch, further grouped in scope by functional areas. Army FAOs are divided into multiple categories of regional areas of expertise and language skills. In 2022,

468-591: Is expected to achieve 400 officers by 2019. As with the Army, the Navy has a single-track system, where officers from other Navy communities transfer over to Foreign Area Officer permanently. Navy FAOs are assigned the 1710 designator . Navy FAOs are apportioned amongst the five regional Unified Combatant Commands : The International Affairs Specialist Program is the Air Force component, and encompasses two officer types:

504-637: Is rated 4 on the ILR scale. A person rated at this level should have the following characteristics: Individuals classified at level 4 are able to understand the details and ramifications of concepts that are culturally or conceptually different from their own language and can set the tone of interpersonal official, semi-official and non-professional verbal exchanges with a representative range of native speakers; examples include playing an effective role among native speakers in contexts such as conferences, lectures and debates on matters of disagreement, as well as advocating

540-527: 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

576-974: 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 between 2005 and 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, build 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. The Army Foreign Area Officer Program (Functional Area 48 or FA48)

612-704: The Reserve Component (RC) FAO Program is highly selective, with new accessions only chosen to fill identified vacancies at semi-annual selection panels held by Army Human Resources Command with the RC FAO Proponent. 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 :

648-532: The Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), military attachés from many Western military organizations served as observers with the land and naval forces of Russia and of Japan. The United States Army detailed eight officers to serve as military attachés with opposing forces in the field; and all served from the start of hostilities in 1904 through the signing of the peace protocols in September 1905. After

684-512: The United States Government . Military attach%C3%A9 A military attaché or defence attaché ( DA ), sometimes known as a " military diplomat ", is an official responsible for military matters within a diplomatic mission , typically an embassy . They are usually high-ranking members of the armed forces who retain their commission while being accorded full diplomatic status and immunity . Generally,

720-560: The Army RC FAO Program only selects branch-qualified officers who already possess 2/2 or better language qualifications with matching regional experience, Master's degrees, and at least Phase 2 their common core of Intermediate Level Education completed. As such, these officers tend to have had substantial international experience in their civilian careers that augments the military backgrounds of their AC FAO colleagues. The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

756-589: 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

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792-648: 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: The Navy FAO Branch is a restricted line community of the Navy. The Navy has approximately 350 FAOs either fully qualified or in training. The community

828-493: The Foreign Area Officer (previously Regional Affairs Strategist) and Political-Military Affairs Strategist. Both tracks remain under the Air Force Specialty Code 16: 16F for FAO and 16P for PAS. PAS development begins in conjunction with Intermediate Developmental Education, at around 10–12 years of commissioned service, and officers serve in similar positions as FAO officers do, but perform duties that require

864-599: The U.S. Foreign Service Institute , based at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC). The scale grades people's language proficiency on a scale of 0–5. The designation 0+, 1+, 2+, 3+, or 4+ is assigned by most agencies when proficiency substantially exceeds one skill level but does not fully meet the criteria for the next level. The exception is the DLIELC (Defense Language Institute English Language Center), which assigns

900-596: The United States and the Soviet Union. Soviet liaison-teams were conducting similar missions in West Germany. These tours had evolved into a legalized form of intelligence-gathering, usually accepted by both sides. The killing became a diplomatic incident. In retaliation, the United States expelled Soviet military attaché Stanislav Gromov, who was selected for his effectiveness in collecting intelligence on

936-624: The United States for the Soviet Union from his post in Washington. ILR scale The Interagency Language Roundtable scale is a set of descriptions of abilities to communicate in a language. It is the standard grading scale for language proficiency in the United States 's federal-level service. It was originally developed by the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR), which included representatives of

972-792: The branches, retention rates of FAOs are higher than service averages. The bulk of the FAO community is primarily composed of field grade officers , though general and flag officers include General John Abizaid , General Christopher G. Cavoli , Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry , Lieutenant General Keith Dayton , Lieutenant General Charles Hooper, Major General Robin Fontes , Brigadier General Richard M. Lake, Brigadier General Henry Nowak, Brigadier General Mark O’Neill, Brigadier General Kevin Ryan, Brigadier General John Adams, and Rear Admiral Douglas Venlet. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

1008-624: The functional area specialties were consolidated from 8 categories down to 5 different categories, including the merging of multiple Asian-concentrated areas down to just one, as well as various other changes: The Army Reserve has a small corps of FAOs who mostly serve in operational and back-up roles at the Defense Attaché Service as Reserve A/ARMAs, and at the Geographical Combatant Commands as Pol-Mil Officers and Country Desk Officers. Selection for

1044-664: 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. While promotion levels vary between

1080-482: The language as part of normal professional duties and can reliably elicit information and informed opinion from native speakers; examples include answering objections, clarifying points, stating and defending policy, conducting meetings, and reading with almost complete comprehension a variety of prose material on familiar and unfamiliar topics such as news reports, routine correspondence, and technical material in trained fields of competence. Full professional proficiency

1116-473: The language; this includes buying goods, reading the time, ordering simple meals and asking for minimal directions Limited working proficiency is rated 2 on the scale. A person at this level is described as follows: Professional working proficiency is rated 3 on the scale. Level 3 is what is usually used to measure how many people in the world know a given language. A person at this level is described as follows: Individuals classified at level 3 are able to use

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1152-476: The practice had become widespread commensurate with the emergence of national defence departments/ministries and the building of colonial empires. The 20th century brought dramatic changes in the number and background of DAs, owing to the growing number of states, the increasingly complex nature of weapons systems, and the enhanced importance of intelligence gathering, particularly during the Cold War. The DA system

1188-435: The remainder of their career. PAS officers will only serve one tour as a PAS before moving back to their primary AFSC. FAOs are required to maintain their language skills at or above a minimum level ( ILR scale reading 2/listening 2/speaking 1+) for the remainder of their career. Acceptance into the FAO programs typically requires at least 7–10 years of commissioned service, since most FAO positions are designated for that of

1224-558: The war, the reports of British officers attached to the Japanese forces in the field were combined and published in four volumes. During this conflict, some attachés served primarily in Manchuria, and others served primarily in Tokyo. Some, like Italian naval officer Ernesto Burzagli , saw service both at sea and in Tokyo. The agreed conditions that allow military attachés to gather information can be misunderstood with fatal results. United States military attaché Maj. Arthur D. Nicholson

1260-679: Was formally recognized in the Vienna Convention of 1961, which codified the rights and responsibilities of diplomats. General Edward Stopford Claremont , served as the first British military attaché (at first described as "military commissioner") based in Paris for 25 years from 1856 to 1881. Though based in the embassy, he was attached to the French army command during the Crimean War of 1853–1856 and later campaigns. The functions of

1296-541: Was killed on March 24, 1985, while photographing a military installation in East Germany 160 kilometres (100 miles) northwest of Berlin. He was reportedly observing from a point not marked off-limits, though near a place that was. According to Sgt. Jessie Schatz, Nicholson's driver, there were no warning shots and the Soviets refused to give Nicholson medical attention for nearly an hour. His role had been agreed to by

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