USMC FAO Notes

1. Desk Officer Adjustment. PLU-6, the EUCOM Desk Officer (Maj Dan Bates, Western Europe FAO) now covers Western Europe and NATO, while PLU-5 (Maj Mike Barnes, Former Soviet Union FAO) covers Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Africa and Israel.

2. Middle East North Africa (MENA) FAO In-Country Training (ICT). The Marine Corps opted for a unique ICT experience this time with one of its MENA FAOs.

          a. The officer completed Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, studying Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) for the entire course. However, approximately 2/3's of the way through, he spent half-days working on Iraqi dialect, and DLPT'd in MSA, but conducted his Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) in Iraqi dialect.

          b. Following graduation from DLI, he will deploy to Iraq and be imbedded with a training team for 6 months.

          c. In January, he will return to the U.S. briefly, and then head out to Cairo, Egypt, where he will execute 6 months of a more traditional ICT (thus completing a year-long ICT, albeit, in an unconventional fashion that meets his particular interests, the needs of the FAO program, and most importantly, the needs of the Marine Corps). We will make all his trip reports available to all interested U.S. FAOs.

3. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Culture & Language Sustainment Program. The Commandant of the Marine Corps met with VADM Fahd, Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF) in Jul 06. VADM Fahd expressed a desire to host some Marine officers in Saudi Arabia to improve their Arabic language skills further. CMC directed Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations to develop a program to support this.

          a. The program will select 1-2 Middle East North Africa / Arabic speaking FAOs to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a 2-3 month immersion training period, every year, beginning summer 07.

          b. This is one of the efforts the Marine Corps is exploring for how to address the cultural and language requirements stipulated in the 2005 Defense Language Transformation Roadmap (DLTR).

4. FAO selections for promotion and command. The Marine Corps FY07 LtCol Command List selected 8 International Affairs Officers (IAOs) for battalion level command.

          a. The Marine Corps manages its FAO Program using the dual-track system, so the IAOs were selected to command units within their Primary Military Occupational Field Specialty (PMOS). On the FY06 LtCol Command Screen Board, 3 FAOs and 1 RAO were selected for command, so the FY07 results are double the previous year's.

          b. IAOs' information:

          (1) 5 FAOs

          (2) 3 Regional Affairs Officers (RAOs)

          (3) Of the total, break-down follows (FAO/PMOS):

                    (a) W. Europe FAO/Logistics Officer

                    (b) W. Europe FAO/Logistics Officer

                    (c) E. Asia RAO/Military Police Officer

                    (d) S.W. Asia RAO/Assault Amphibian Vehicle Officer

                    (e) China FAO/Logistics Officer

                    (f) Latin America FAO/Engineer Officer

                    (g) Latin America FAO/Intelligence Officer

                    (h) E. Asia RAO/Infantry Officer

          c. The Marine Corps FY07 Col Selection Board selected 2 FAOs for selection to Col--a MENA FAO, and a Former Soviet Union FAO.

          d. The Marine Corps FY08 LtCol and Col selection boards are estimated to release the results at the end of this year, so we'll have to wait until the next FAOA edition to see those results.

5. FY07 FAO and RAO Board Selection Results. MARADMIN 328/06 (July 06) identified the 10 FAOs and 8 RAOs selected for the program.

          a. FAOs, upon completion of graduate studies at the Naval Postgraduate School, will begin studying the following languages at DLI: Arabic X 3, and Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Turkish, Indonesian and Tagalog (each X 1).

          b. RAOs, upon completion for 18 months of graduate study at the Naval Postgraduate School, will execute follow-on orders to assignments in or directly related to geographic regions associated with their respective concentrations. RAOs were selected for the following: Former Soviet Union / Eastern Europe X 2, and Western Europe, Latin America, East Asia, southwest Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East North Africa (each X 1).

6. Upcoming PLU Visit to Monterey. The International Issues Branch (code PLU) visits Monterey, CA twice a year, to brief IAOs, and future IAOs (such as Olmsted Scholars, Exchange Officers and Liaison Officers training not just at NPS, but also DLI). The USMC-French Staff Talks require a shift from the Jan 06 planned date, to Feb 06. POC is Major Mike Oppenheim at e-mail <michael.oppenheim@usmc.mil>.

7. Center for Advanced Operational Culture Learning (CAOCL). The CAOCL solicited input from Sub-Saharan Africa IAOs, and received volunteers, to support an upcoming event addressing preparation for a future U.S. Military Observe Group- Washington (USMOG-W) evolution. This event is scheduled for the first week of December at the CAOCL HQ, in Quantico, VA. POC for additional information is Maj Mike Oppenheim at e-mail .