USASAC leads charge in foreign military sales for the U.S. Army

The U.S. Army’s ability to flourish in a crowded and competitive foreign military sales arena is one of U.S. Army Security Assistant Command’s greatest contributions, said Army Materiel Command’s top leader.

During a March 19 tri-annual update with Gen. Ed Daly, USASAC’s leadership highlighted the command's work with more than 130 countries in every geographical theater and combatant command.

“USASAC thrives in the competition for foreign military sales, but we need to continue to accelerate FMS and be more agile than ever. Time is our enemy because we and our threats are competing for the same countries,” said Daly.

USASAC manages more than 6,500 FMS cases valued at more than $200 billion. In fiscal year 2021 alone, the command is on pace for $24 billion in new sales, a five year high, said Brig. Gen. Doug Lowrey, USASAC Commanding General.

“We see down to the tactical level on everything related to the case,” said Lowrey. “Overall, we are doing really well at building partner capacity – our core mission set.”

USASAC continues to align itself with the Army and Department of Defense priorities and National Defense Strategy. A primary reason for the command’s success is the emphasis it puts on its priorities, said Lowrey.

“We make decisions based around three main lines of effort. We want to modernize the AMC Security Assistance Enterprise to ensure we’re successful not only now, but moving forward. We want to execute comprehensive security assistance programs in order to deliver our commitment to our allies and partners. And lastly, which is really our first priority, we want to be a people-first organization because our workforce and the relationships we have with our customers are the driving force to our success,” he said.

Daly took time to recognize five members of the USASAC workforce from across the organization during the update. Steven Odom, Aaron Miller, Dortha Shields, Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Meadow and Sgt. 1st Class Fumio Kyota were acknowledged for their efforts in enhancing the command’s mission success. The recognitions align with what the Army values strive to accomplish, said Daly.

“This is a cornerstone to what we are trying to achieve. I believe it’s about culture; I believe it is about dignity and respect. I believe this is the foundation by which we operate. That makes it not only a place where people want to work, but where people can thrive and feel like they’re making a difference,” Daly said.

USASAC is ensuring a focus on its people through three main areas: workforce development, workforce wellbeing, and equal employment opportunities. The command is developing and implementing tasks to enable it to see every single one of our teammates, said Lowrey.

“One way we are accomplishing this is a result of our equal opportunity and command climate survey. We’re creating think tanks or groups of employees who will help determine and tackle the things that will truly make our command a people-first organization. Anything from a new orientation process, to a return to work strategy, to awards and incentives, as well as a diversity council among other things. The bottom line is we want our employees to be a part of the solutions moving forward,” Lowrey said.

While the four-star general said he was pleased with the work being done at USASAC, he challenged the command to measure its success in building cohesive teams and creating a climate where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

“This is nothing new and USASAC has been doing this for a while, but we have to continue to put an emphasis and a finer point on it,” Daly said.