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20-640: The Joint United States Military Advisory Group, Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI) is the U.S. Department of Defense's Security Assistance Organization in Thailand. It was established on September 22, 1953. The chief of JUSMAGTHAI also serves as the senior defense official and defense attaché to Thailand. At the height of the Vietnam War , many American military specialists were assigned to JUSMAG-THAI in Bangkok . As many as 45,000 US military personnel were stationed in Thailand. In

40-574: A number of different tasks listed in the Department of Defense Manual, The Management of Security Assistance : SAOs also coordinate or participate in activities not traditionally regarded as "security assistance," such as exercises and deployments , humanitarian civic assistance activities , exchanges, conferences and other military-to-military contact programs. Section 515 (e) of the Foreign Assistance Act states that SAOs are to be under

60-611: The Department of Defense , go by different names in different countries. These names include Military Groups (MILGROUPs), Military Assistance and Advisory Groups (MAAGs), Military Liaison Offices (MLOs), Offices of the Defense Representative (ODRs), Offices of Security Cooperation (OSC) (one example is the Office of Defense Cooperation Turkey ), and the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC). The Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq, part of

80-848: The Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program and from administrative surcharges on Foreign Military Sales (FMS). Section 515 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195, or the "FAA"), as amended, governs SAO staffing and responsibilities. Limitations Section 515(b) mandates that SAOs keep advisory and training assistance to an absolute minimum. This provision's intent is to specify that SAOs should manage training and advice provided by others, not carry it out themselves. Reporting Notification United States Foreign Military Financing The United States Foreign Military Financing ( FMF ) program provides grants and loans to friendly foreign governments to fund

100-570: The Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program (an increase of 51% from five years earlier) and $ 124.3 billion in sales under the Direct Commercial Contracts (DCC) program. Security Assistance Organizations (SAOs) and military personnel in U.S. embassies play a key role in managing FMF within recipient countries. Some FMF pays for SAO salaries and operational costs. The United States Congress appropriates funds for FMF through

120-772: The Philippines was granted $ 100 million in FMF that according to U.S. ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson "could be used to 'offset' its decision to scrap a $ 227 million deal with Russia" and buy Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters from the United States instead of Mil Mi-17 . Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , the U.S. government has provided $ 2.6 billion in FMF to European allies and partners. The U.S. Congress has appropriated $ 4.65 billion across two aid packages for Ukraine and "countries impacted by

140-718: The Trump administration indefinitely froze all security aid to Pakistan over terror record . In September 2023, the Biden administration notified Congress that it was withholding $ 85 million designated for U.S. security assistance from Egypt due to its detention of political prisoners and human rights abuses and transferring $ 55 million to Taiwan and $ 30 million to Lebanon in FMF. In 2022, Congress authorized but did not appropriate $ 2 billion in annual FMF to Taiwan. The 2023 NDAA instead required that security assistance to Taiwan be provided through loans payable in 12-years. In October 2022,

160-692: The United States Department of Defense . The program's stated aims are to promote U.S. interests by "ensuring coalition partners and friendly partner governments are equipped and trained to pursue common security objectives by contributing to regional and global stability, strengthening military support for democratically-elected governments, fighting the War on Terror, and containing other transnational threats including trafficking in narcotics, weapons and persons." FMF funds eligible governments to purchase U.S. defense articles, services and training through

180-480: The 1980s, over $ 40 billion in FMF funds have been used to acquire more than 1,100 M1A1 Abrams tanks, 224 F-16 fighter aircraft, 10 Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters, thousands of Humvees , FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS , and AGM-114 Hellfire and Harpoon missiles. Pakistan has been one of the largest recipients of US aid in the past, with the US providing the country more than £30 billion in direct aid since 1948. In 2018,

200-627: The 2021 Israeli defense budget. In 2021, the Security Cabinet of Israel allocated $ 9 billion in future FMF funds to finance the purchase of 12 Sikorsky CH-53K helicopters (with an option to procure six more) and additional F-35 aircraft. In August 2022, Boeing Defense, Space & Security and the Israeli government signed a contract for four Boeing KC-46A multirole tanker aircraft and "associated maintenance, logistics, and training" for $ 927 million. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz thanked

220-788: The Department of Defense for approving the deal, which included an "expedited implementation of U.S. FMF." Other countries in the Middle East and North Africa were among the other major recipients of FMF funds, including Jordan , Egypt , and Pakistan . The United States has provided aid to Jordan since the late 1960s. In 2022, the United States provided Jordan with $ 425 million in State Department Foreign Military Financing funds as part of its bilateral aid program. Egypt receives $ 1.3 billion in annual FMF, accounting for 80 percent of its military procurement budget. Since

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240-633: The Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP), amongst others. SAOs' duties are officially referred to as "overseas military program management". Specific responsibilities may include managing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases, managing training programs, monitoring security-assistance programs, evaluating and planning the host country's military capabilities and requirements, promoting international defense cooperation and interoperability between forces, providing administrative support, and other liaison functions. Typically, SAOs are responsible for

260-649: The annual Foreign Operations Appropriations Act . Israel is the largest recipient of Title 22 security assistance under the FMF program. In 2016, the governments of United States and Israel signed their third ten-year MoU, covering 2019 to 2028, for the United States government to annually provide $ 3.3 billion in FMF. Since 2009, Israel has been provided with $ 3.4 billion for missile defense, including $ 1.3 billion for Iron Dome since 2011 and access to purchase other U.S. military equipment, including 50 Lockheed Martin F-35 . Annual FMF grants represent approximately 16% of

280-778: The direct supervision of the Ambassador to the country in which they are stationed. However, the Management of Security Assistance states that: "The Chief of the SAO is essentially responsible to three authorities: the Ambassador (who heads up the country team), the Commander of the Unified Command, and the Director, Defense Security Cooperation Agency." Funding for the portion of SAO salaries and operating costs used to manage security assistance comes from

300-463: The government-to-government the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program and purchases made through the Direct Commercial Contracts (DCC) program, which oversees sales between foreign governments and private U.S. companies. FMF does not provide cash grants to other countries; it generally pays for sales of specific goods or services through FMS or DCS. In 2020, the DSCA reported sales of $ 50.8 billion under

320-444: The larger embassy of the United States, Baghdad after the 2011 U.S. withdrawal held the remaining DOD support personnel, totalling about 1,000 contractors and about 147 DOD uniformed personnel. It operated from ten locations around Iraq, and managed about 370 Foreign Military Sales cases, totaling more than US $ 9 billion of pending arms sales, citing a February 2012 Congressional Research Service report. The biggest program underway

340-538: The purchase of American weapons, defense equipment, services and training. The program was established through the 1976 Arms Export Control Act and is overseen by the Office of Security Assistance within the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (previously the Office of Policy Plans and Analysis) of the United States Department of State and executed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of

360-471: The situation in Ukraine." FMF funds were used to refit and transfer four former United States Coast Guard Island-class patrol boats since 2018. In September 2022, Congress approved $ 288.6 million in FMF for Poland to "build the capacity to deter and defend against the increased threat from Russia." In May 2024, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $ 2 billion aid package for Ukraine to establish

380-490: The twenty-first century, JUSMAGTHAI supports a variety of missions, including a Joint Combined bilateral Exercise Program which averages over 60 exercises a year, Foreign Military Sales and humanitarian demining missions. JUSMAGTHAI is located on a Royal Thai Armed Forces military compound approximately two kilometers from the American Embassy, on Sathorn Tai Road . Security Assistance Organization SAOs, part of

400-579: Was the much-delayed sale of 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters. The Office of the Defense Representative, Pakistan, was the Islamabad presence. In general, they are not to be confused with defense attachés, who normally play a more diplomatic role. Many U.S. embassies have both defense attachés and SAOs. There are also non-DOD entities carrying out similar activities. The Department of State 's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs runs

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