United States Security Assistance Organizations

United States Security Assistance Organizations (SAOs) 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 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). 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.

SAOs' duties are officially referred to as "overseas military program management."

Specific responsibilities may include:

Typically, these responsibilities require an SAO to carry out the following 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 the direct supervision of the Ambassador to the country in which they are stationed. However, The Management of Security Assistance probably reflects reality more closely: "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."2

Funding for the portion of SAO salaries and operating costs used to manage security assistance comes from 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.

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