McNair Paper Number 44, Chapter 7,  October 1995
**CONTRIBUTIONS TO BUILDING COOPERATIVE MILITARY RELATIONSHIPS**
Foreign military training is designed to improve the professional qualities and performance ofinternational students who, in turn, often become instructors within their parent organizations.  Thereusually are language difficulties and a considerable disparity in professional experience among U.S.and foreign students at the commencement of a course.  By graduation, however, these gaps eitherhave been bridged or ways to work around language, doctrinal, or other differences have emerged. This experience, not unlike solving practical problems in a foreign area of operation, has reinforcedthe ability of the U.S. armed forces to engage successfully in multilateral operations with participantsfrom other countries.  Several other benefits come to the fore.

**Sharing U.S. Professional Education and Standards**
The agreement to provide IMET-funded training to a foreign country stipulates that graduates be utilizedin the national military education and training system for at least two years upon return home (three forhighly technical training).  This helps the United States to justify the expense of the grant program byensuring that the learning experience is passed on quickly to others.  By and large, parent militaryinstitutions honor this arrangement, with most officers being assigned as instructors upon their return orshortly thereafter.  Graduates often return again several years later to positions of prominence andinfluence in their national military education and training system.  In the Portuguese Armed Forces in1994, for example, former recipients of IMET-funded education held the top positions at the NavalAcademy, Air Force Academy, the Institute of Advanced Military Studies, and the NATO DefenseCollege.  At the same time in Lebanon, graduates of U.S. military schools commanded the MilitaryAcademy, the Command and Staff College, the Army's Training Institution, and the Air Force School. Officers in such important positions frequently have attended two or three service programs in the UnitedStates.
	Military school systems worldwide tend to be conservative and tradition bound, often unwilling to move quickly to adopt new ideas unless under pressure to do so.  Change takes place slowly, but over80 percent of the responses to INSS's research survey indicate that at some point in their careersgraduate-officers have been instrumental in the professional development of their armed forces alongU.S. operational, tactical, and management lines.  Many respondents mentioned the Persian Gulf Waras proof of U.S. influence.  "One reason we had so much cooperation from our Middle Easterncounterparts," wrote one IMSO chief, "was because most of the high ranking [officers] had attendedmilitary training in the U.S. and understood how to work with us."(Note 40)  Many former students personally played key roles inthe coalition the United States formed while others were instrumental in developing and training theforces which ultimately operated together under the U.N. flag.
	The study team found other examples of former foreign students in the United States influencingmilitary thinking within their services.  A case in point involves three Argentine graduates of the U.S.Navy's Command Course who prepared their country's naval strategy based on their study of the U.S.Navy's counterpart document,  *. . . From the Sea*.  In Greece, a recent graduate of the U.S. Army WarCollege returned to head the Tactics Department at the Greek War College.  While in the position, hewas instrumental in reorienting tactics instruction along U.S.-NATO lines.  The improved curriculumfor the Costa Rican National Police Academy was developed by several graduates of U.S. militaryschools.  On an operational level, the U.S. Coast Guard has had considerable success in using IMETprograms to assist counterparts in the Caribbean Basin, Estonia, and across the Pacific to establish andrealize Western standards for cooperative law enforcement at sea.  At the national level too, in countriessuch as Portugal, Greece and Turkey, students funded by IMET have risen to positions of influence intheir Services, and often the ministry of defense, and refashioned organizations, doctrine, managementsystems, and, on occasion, decision making processes after the U.S. defense model.(Note 42)  There have been numerous other instances of foreignmilitary schools modifying their curricula (including instruction on human rights and rules ofengagement), adopting course materials, and adapting teaching techniques based on contacts with DODinstitutions.   
	 Often junior officers and those who have attended multiple schools in the United States areprofoundly influenced by issues of professional proficiency and personal values.  One instance was foundin a daily situation report from a multinational training exercise organized by U.S. Southern Commandin November 1994:

	Among the outstanding exercise participants is Captain R. from El Salvador.  Captain R. is only 35 years old,yet his career includes fifteen years experience . . . Captain R. has attended the U.S. Army Infantry OfficerBasic and Infantry Officer Advance Courses as well as short courses in Washington, DC, sponsored by [the]Department of State.  The questions and points [he] brought to the exercise,[which stressed rules of engagementand respect for human rights] . . . are indicative of a clear understanding of the problems associated with peaceoperations.  Captain R. has been recognized as a leader in the [Task Force] staff . . .  [He] is a success storyin the making and represents everything the IMET program is intended to do.(Note 43)

	Most respondents to INSS's survey who are assigned overseas mentioned the striking differencebetween former international student officers and contemporaries who remained home.  In Bolivia, forexample, the U.S. mission rates the units commanded by graduates of the School of the Americas as thebest trained in the country:  "These units think and act differently, allowing qualified NCO's to teachcourses, [which in Latin America is] a rare practice."(Note44)  A theory that seems validated is that professionalism can breed professionalism.

**As a Force Multiplier**
From a U.S. perspective, foreign officers attending U.S. military schools, particularly staff colleges,gain valuable insights into our operational and tactical mind set and procedural approaches.  They alsolearn first hand the capabilities and limitations of a wide array of U.S. military equipment.  Studentswork side-by-side with American counterparts in numerous classroom and field exercises, buildingmutual trust, effective communication in English, an understanding of interoperability, and familiaritywith our military doctrine.  Such combined experience has facilitated coalition operations in various partsof the world.  In Turkey, during Operations *Desert Shield* and *Provide Comfort*, for example, the planning and execution of complex operations at the national level, as well as combined special forces activities along the border with Iraq, were facilitated by many Turkish officers having been assigned in the United States as international military students.(Note 45)  A second example is the composite battalion from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) serving with U.S. forces in Haiti.  The technical competence of the Eastern Caribbean soldiers, which has been praised officially by U.S. Atlantic Command, can be directly attributed to exposure of its officers to U.S. tactical, logistical and leadership training.(Note 46)

**Interoperability in U.N. Peace Operations**
In a number of countries, officers assigned to international staffs or as liaison officers to them, or oftenas attachés are invariably graduates of U.S. military training programs.  They tend to have a workingfluency with English, have maintained U.S. contacts, and share common professional education.  Thesequalifications are now in demand for a variety of U.N. peace operations.  The assignment of a recentPolish graduate of the U.S. Army War College to be the Chief of Staff of UNPROFOR's Sector Northin Croatia is typical.  The headquarters provides command and control to Danish, Jordanian, Ukrainian,and Polish battalions.  The lingua franca is English.  Its staff and operational procedures within theheadquarters are from the United States or its close procedural relative, NATO standard agreements.(Note 47)
	Professional military education in the United States, including language instruction, provides a sharedexperience for officers from many of the countries contributing forces to U.N. peace operations.  Withthis experience as a base for standardizing operating procedures and establishing standards of conduct,many U.N. commanders begin to build unit cohesion and improve the performance of their multinationalforce.  Governments recognize that their capacities to assist in peace operations depend on an ability tointeroperate with the United States; increasingly, they seek training in U.S. schools to enhance thecapabilities of their forces. 

**Benefitting from the Expertise of Others**
The INSS team found that instructors from several U.S. senior service and staff colleges maintained thatU.S. students benefitted significantly from contact with colleagues from other countries.  The latter'spresence brings provocative non-U.S. perspectives, and varied professional expertise into U.S. militaryclassrooms.  They provide an invaluable counterweight to blind acceptance of U.S. military doctrine andcultural biases on national security issues.  These students frequently frame a discussion or a solution toan operational problem in ways which U.S. participants have not considered and offer unique insightsinto other alternative courses of action which may not be readily apparent.  As a result, U.S. officersare forced to think through and defend their views, with benefit to all.  Because it finds the contributionsof its international students so valuable, the National Defense University is expanding the number offoreign officers in its colleges.  "In this day of coalition warfare, we need this exposure," argued onefaculty member.(Note 48)  The current Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) policy on military education underscores the importance of maintaininginternational student programs which "contribute to professional broadening of attending U.S.officers."(Note 49)
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