USMC FAO Notes -- March 1998

First, congratulation are in order to our two FAOs and one RAO (Regional Affairs Officer) who were just selected for promotion to Colonel: Maurice Hutchinson (Chinese FAO); William Kellner, Jr. (Latin America FAO); and Richard Mills (Western Europe FAO). The statistics haven't been officially compiled yet, but it appears that with the low number ofFAOs we had in the zone this year, the percentage selected will be very close to the overall percentage.

For many, if not most, study-track FAOs, their in-country training is a series of memorable and exciting experiences. That is certainly true for CAPT Jeff Allen, a Former Soviet Union FAO-in-training who has gotten a little more excitement in the past two months than he probably expected. After attending DLI, he arrived at the Marshall Center in Garmisch, GE last summer. When the Marine Corps was tasked with providing an officer for six months of duty with the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), it looked like a great opportunity for CAPT Allen and he enthusiastically volunteered.

If the anti-terrorism indoctrination, helmet, flack jacket and imminent danger pay weren't sufficient clues that this was not going to be a vacation, he found out for sure shortly after his arrival in-country. Alone one night in the quarters that he shared with several other UNOMIG observers, he was awakened by several men armed with AK-47s and a grenade launcher breaking in. After tying and roughing him up, they proceeded to loot the house. Once they left, he was able to free himself, and fortunately suffered only bruises in the incident. By the way, there are no indications that the assault had any terrorist or political overtones in the breakin.

CAPT Allen was then transferred to another sector, where he was the only American observer, and continued his duties. On February 19th, four UN Observers in his sector were taken hostage by a group believed to be responsible for the recent assassination attempt on the President of the Republic of Georgia -- Eduard Shevardnadze. As one of the few UN Observers in the sector speaking Russian,CAPT Allen was soon recruited to work at the sector headquarters, assisting in the hostage negotiations. After a few days, however, he was pulled away from this task as higher headquarters ordered all American observers moved back to the capitol, Tbilisi, due to concerns for their relative safety. Whether he ultimately returns to observer duty or not remains to be seen as I write this -- but regardless, I doubt that Capt Allen will soon forget his experiences of the past two months.

At Headquarters, Marine Corps, we are in the process of publishing the policy guidance for the tentatively-named MARINE LIAISON GROUP (MLG). Yes, in this era of downsizing, we are actually creating a new organization.

During the recent Marine Corps Force Structure Reviews a significant need was recognized in the area of foreign liaison. Specifically, commanders need an organization that can provide them with regional, linguistic, cultural, and military expertise to facilitate command, control, communication and coordination with military or civilian foreign/international organizations in expeditionary operations across the full spectrum of conflict. The emphasis is on support to the warfighters, and MLG personnel will routinely deploy, especially with the Marine Expeditionary Units. Additionally, the total force MLG will be responsible for tracking all Marines with regional or linguistic expertise, regardless of their MOS or assignment. This will give deployed MLG units a "reach-back" capability when necessary.

As readers of the FAO Journal undoubtedly realized on reading the above paragraph, "regional, linguistic, cultural, and military expertise" and FAOs are essentially synonymous. Thus, it is expected that many, if not most, of the officers eventually assigned to the MLG will be FAOs. Although the actual structures still to be determined, the active component will probably have about 100 billets (both officer and enlisted); the reserve component approximately 500. The MLG has tremendous relevance to both our national and Marine Corps strategies, as well as providing new opportunities for our FAOs and RAOs. I will keep you informed as the MLG progresses.

If any of you have any questions, feel free to give me a call at DSN 224-3706 or commercial 614-3706.

1997, Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield, Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org