Security assistance liaison officers assigned to the Security Assistance Command had the opportunity to visit Carlisle Barracks for engagements with leaders of the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute and the Army War College.
PKSOI serves as the Army’s Joint Proponent for Peace and Stability Operations at the strategic level. The organizations mission “develops integrates and assesses joint, intergovernmental, and multinational peace keeping and stability capabilities to achieve national objectives across the competition continuum.”
Col. Jay Liddick, PKSOI director, welcomed the officers and provided an overview of PKSOI. Liddick focused on the reality and importance of peacekeeping and stability operations and how the institute achieves its mission. The officers received information on the activities and doctrine that drive stabilization, engagement, and peace operations, along with the authorities and tasks assigned.
Lt. Col. Carlos Pauloni, the security assistance liaison officer representing Brazil, expressed the visit’s importance.
“The visit was very important for the SALOs to get to know the (war college) and the (institute), two of the most reputable and internationally recognized educational institutions of the U.S.A.,” Pauloni said. “Knowing centers that spread U.S. military doctrine and knowledge allows us to understand more about the military culture and thinking of our U.S. counterparts, which enables us to do business more efficiently on behalf of our countries and strengthens the alliance between our nations.”
Security assistance liaison officers assigned to USASAC help strengthen global partnerships through the monitoring of foreign military sales cases spanning decades, during war and peacetime.
While a SALO’s primary focus is on the foreign military sales process, the Security Assistance Command understands the importance of exposing SALOs to various DOD entities. PKSOI is a unique organization which focuses on peacekeeping efforts as well as an association with the United Nations in humanitarian efforts and human security, to include protection of civilians and women, peace and security.
In prior assignments, several SALOs have served in UN humanitarian efforts or peacekeeping missions. Maj. Mary Ann Lepin, the Chilean SALO, served in the Haiti effort.
“It is difficult to imagine a baby walking in search of food,” Lepin said. “An unfortunate reality in which this little boy and others sought to survive in a society marked by repeated internal conflicts, which left them without access to satisfy their most basic needs. It is in this context that the role played by the United Nations and its various member countries becomes vitally important. I have bitter and sweet memories of my work in Haiti; I am left with the gratitude of the local people with whom I worked and with the smiles that so many children returned to me.”
Deputy director of PKSOI, T.J. Moffatt, noted the importance of the SALOs’ role in building partner capacity and their understanding of PKSOI in relation to security assistance/security cooperation.
“DOD recognizes security cooperation as one of the six functions of stabilization and through those programs, the U.S. Army seeks to strengthen our allies and partners,” Moffatt said.
Maj. Jaebum Kim, South Korean SALO, said, “SALOs work with FMS is very complicated and confusing with the various components and people … and multiple vendors. Widening the understanding of various components of the DOD and U.S. Army structure for SALOs improves the ability to achieve their country’s mission.”
Following the PKSOI overview, the officers received an overview on the Army War College and the International Fellows Program within the college. The college focuses on educating and training strategic leaders with a focus on strategic land power across the globe.
Col. Brian Henderson, International Fellows director, provided an in-depth overview of both programs. The AWC annually hosts 80 international officers, lieutenant colonels to brigadier generals, in the resident program, a true demonstration of how important building partner capacity and partnerships across the world is to the Army and to all of our partners and allies.
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