NEWS FROM THE FRONT 

 December 2019

 

 

Approved for Public Release, 

Distribution Unlimited 

Mr. Douglas Davids 

Center for Army Lessons Learned 
The Front of Military Education and Security Cooperation: 

Defense Security Cooperation University 

Mr. Douglas Davids

Executive Summary 

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Defense Security Cooperation 

Agency to manage the Department of Defense Security Cooperation Workforce Development 

Program training and education standards, as well as identify and define training and certification 

requirements. The Defense Security Cooperation University was established in September 2019 

to meet these obligations.

Front Cover: Justified Accord 2019 field training exercise opening ceremony 

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Overview 

Security cooperation is defined as “all Department of Defense (DOD) interactions with 

foreign security establishments to build security relationships that promote specific 

U.S. security interests, develop allied and partner-nation military and security 

capabilities for self-defense and multinational operations, and provide U.S. forces with 

peacetime and contingency access to allied and partner nations.”1 Security cooperation 

is a multifaceted effort that requires more than just planning to develop the skills of a 

foreign security force. In 2017, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) created 

the DOD Security Cooperation Workforce Development Program (SCWDP) to develop 

and manage supporting security programs, improve the quality of the security 

cooperation workforce, and ensure personnel have the appropriate level of expertise 

and experience to perform their missions.2 

The 2017 NDAA directed the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to 

manage the SCWDP’s training and education standards, as well as identify and define 

training and certification requirements. Specifically, DSCA was required to “establish 

and maintain a school to train, educate, and certify the security cooperation workforce 

... .” To meet this obligation, DSCA established the Defense Security Cooperation 

University (DSCU) in September 2019, to educate and certify 20,000 U.S. government 

employees’ security cooperation and standardize their training. 

Purpose 

This article provides a brief description of the threat environment security cooperation 

must work within, an overview of the new DSCU, a discussion of the legal requirements 

emplaced on the DSCU, and an example course from DSCU and how this course 

meets the legal requirements. 

The Threat and Environment 

The threats the U.S. faces worldwide are vast and at times, overwhelming. They 

include both irregular and major power threats. Prior to 11 September 2001, irregular 

threats such as terrorist activities, piracy, trafficking of illegal drugs and illegal arms, 

and human smuggling already endangered U.S. and international security. However, 

today these entities are major nonstate actors that can threaten free societies across 

entire regions and even present transcontinental threats. Irregular forces do not have 

borders, uniforms, or rules, and will take advantage of any weakness found in the 

global system. The 2018 National Military Strategy states that “transnational threat 

groups, from jihadist terrorists to transnational criminal organizations, are actively 

trying to harm Americans.”3 However, these numerous irregular threats are too vast for 

the U.S. to handle alone and require the help of allies and partners. 

The reemergence of a great power competition with Russia and China has also added 

to the need for effective security cooperation, and, as stated in the 2018 National 

Military Strategy, “represents the most difficult challenges facing the Joint Force.”4 
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The hard reality is that major powers like Russia and China are very much involved in 

the effort to gain greater influence around the world while diminishing the U.S.’s 

position. The 2017 National Security Strategy states that “China and Russia challenge 

American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and 

prosperity.”5 Threats like the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot be taken lightly either, and 

the situation with North Korea, despite peace talks, is still unpredictable. Both are 

“determined to destabilize regions, threaten Americans and our allies, and brutalize 

their own people.”6 Major powers are trying to secure alliances, minerals, or bases of 

support with neutral territories in order to diminish U.S. influence in the region. Without 

robust security cooperation efforts to unify U.S. efforts with those of its allies and 

partners, adversaries could gain a position of relative advantage. 

Security cooperation builds the capacity of foreign security forces to meet today’s 

challenges, supporting and advancing the interests of the U.S. and partner nations. 

Aside from long-term allies and cohorts, the U.S. has new partners in the global 

security system, many of which need assistance. Not only is Eastern Europe no longer 

a satellite of the old Soviet Union power, but many of its nations are now members of 

the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This has tipped the balance of power 

away from Russia. Russia has executed actions, such as in Ukraine and the Black Sea, 

to regain its position of power. In Asia, the U.S. has incorporated former adversaries, 

such as Vietnam, as part of the U.S.’s security cooperation efforts to keep China’s 

aggressive expansion at bay. Security cooperation is a growing industry in the strategic 

efforts of the U.S., and this is not likely to change in the near future. Security 

cooperation is a necessary activity that helps the U.S. respond to irregular and 

conventional threats. 

Finally, it is important to understand that no single solution can be applied within the 

realm of security cooperation. The environment is too complex and U.S. adversaries 

are too diverse. It will take a force that understands and is well-educated in the 

intricacies of security cooperation. This is the main mission of the DSCU. 

 

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“ ... by strengthening the militaries of our allies and partners, you actually 

strengthen your own security.” 

LTG Charles Hooper 

Director, DSCA 

25 September 2019 

Source: C. Todd Lopez, https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1971845/new-defenseschool-to-educate-certify-security-cooperation-professionals/
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Breaking New Ground: The Defense Security Cooperation University 

DSCA, whose current director is LTG Charles Hooper, it is a vital organization in 

accomplishing U.S. national security cooperation goals. DSCA’s mission is to advance 

U.S. national security and foreign policy interests by building the capacity of foreign 

security forces to respond to shared challenges, and leads the broader U.S. Security 

cooperation enterprise in its efforts to train, educate, advise, and equip foreign 

partners.7 This is no easy endeavor, and the DOD must educate its forces in security 

cooperation to accomplish this task. To assist in this undertaking, DSCA established 

the DSCU as a professional education and research institute to help advance U.S. 

foreign policy through cooperation. Today, under the leadership of DSCU President, 

Cara Abercrombie, DSCU is proactively moving forward by building its educational 

prowess to help the DOD meet the adversary of today. 

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, John Rood; DSCA Director, LTG Charles 

Hooper; and DSCU President, Cara Abercrombie, participate in a ribbon cutting at the 

DSCU at Arlington, VA. Photo Credit: Navy PO2 James K. Lee, DOD, 

https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1971845/new-defense-school-toeducate-certify-security-cooperation-professionals/

DSCU is a ground-breaking organization launched in September 2019, to bring 

education and certification to the 20,000 U.S. government employees working in the 

field of security cooperation. The intent of DSCU is to align the security cooperation 

workforce with DOD doctrine and overall strategic direction. DSCU’s goal is to certify 

the security cooperation workforce at a basic level by 2022.8 

 
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The 2017 NDAA states that the SCWDP must develop and manage a professional 

security cooperation workforce responsible for actions such as planning, assessing, 

monitoring, evaluating, and supporting the execution and administration of Title 10 

(DOD-funded) security cooperation programs and Title 22 (Department of State 

funded) security assistance programs. Key guidance to DSCA includes the following: 9

A. Provide direction to the DOD on the establishment of professional career 

paths for the personnel of the security cooperation workforce, addressing 

training and education standards, promotion opportunities and requirements, 

retention policies, and scope of workforce demands. 

B. Provide a mechanism to identify and define training and certification 

requirements for security cooperation positions in the DOD and a means to track 

workforce skills and certifications. 

C. Provide a mechanism to establish a program of professional certification in 

DOD security cooperation for personnel of the security cooperation workforce in 

different career tracks and levels of competency based on requisite training and 

experience. 

D. Establish requirements for training and professional development associated 

with each level of certification, provided under subparagraph C. 

E. Establish and maintain a school to train, educate, and certify the security 

cooperation workforce according to standards developed for purposes of 

subparagraph C. 

F. Provide a mechanism for assigning appropriately certified personnel of the 

security cooperation workforce to assignments associated with key positions in 

connection with security cooperation programs and activities. 

G. Identify the appropriate composition of career and temporary personnel 

necessary to constitute the security cooperation workforce. 

H. Identify specific positions throughout the security cooperation workforce to 

be managed and assigned through the program. 

The establishment of DCSU provides the U.S. government a tool to certify and track 

security cooperation personnel at all levels. Like many DOD occupations, security 

cooperation is a highly skilled profession that requires both training and experience. 

DSCA will soon require various areas of concentration for all personnel working 

security cooperation efforts that will require basic, intermediate, advanced and/or 

expert-level qualifications. 

 
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DSCU offers distance learning and resident courses at the campuses in Dayton, OH 

(previously known as the Defense Institute of Security Cooperation Studies); Arlington, 

VA (Crystal City); or at the home station of the combatant/component commands. 

Many of the basic courses are offered online and provide an opportunity for basic 

security cooperation education to the entire joint community. The Introduction to 

Security Cooperation course is one such example. However, many more advanced 

courses are offered only as resident courses. Resident courses may incorporate a 

distance learning portion to provide students with an opportunity to think through 

various scenarios and develop the needed skill base to be successful in the resident 

course. A list of courses currently offered by DSCU are available online at 

https://www.discs.dsca.mil/_pages/courses/courses.aspx. 

Nesting Education Into Higher Guidance and Policy: A Course Example 

DSCU courses are designed to meet the intent of higher guidance and policy initiatives, 

some of which are new and not necessarily common knowledge in the rapidly 

expanding world of security cooperation. One example of this is the DSCU’s 

Intermediate Security Cooperation Planning, Oversight, and Execution (POE)-201 

course. POE-201 assists students in complying with DOD Instruction (DODI) 5132.14, 

Assessment, Monitoring, and Evaluation (AM&E) Policy for Security Cooperation. 

POE-201 helps reconcile differences between formal military planning processes and 

those used in academia or other government agencies such as directives to develop 

initiative design documents, logic frameworks, and theories of change. POE-201 

explains these methods of planning and increases understanding through extensive 

exercises. The course also provides students with the information they need to plan 

for, oversee, and execute the many complex and interrelated aspects of security 

assistance and security cooperation at the intermediate level. 

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''Even people in the workforce for 20 years are not necessarily aware of new policy 

initiatives.'' 

Ms. Cara Abercrombie  

President, DSCU 

25 September 2019

Source: C. Todd Lopez, https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1971845/new-defenseschool-to-educate-certify-security-cooperation-professionals/
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Ira Queen, DSCU Associate Professor, instructs students in the Planning, 

Assessing, Monitoring, and Evaluating for Security Cooperation course at the 

Crystal City campus. Photo Credit: Douglas Davids 

POE-201 provides standard operating procedures for planning security cooperation. 

Students arrive from their respective units with various experiences and methods of 

planning. This course provides a unified method for planning and evaluation for all 

security cooperation planners, including a common language among DOD personnel, 

Department of State, and other agencies. This is vital because Title 10 and Title 22 

funding have an important role in security cooperation activities and endeavors. 

The Way Ahead 

Speaking at the opening of DSCU, LTG Hooper said, “The security cooperation 

profession has not been truly complete until today.” He added that the school will serve 

as a “center of excellence” to make security cooperation a professional career field.11 

In the global system today, security cooperation plays a vital role in the fight against 

worldwide state and nonstate threat actors. DSCU will continue to help lead U.S. 

security cooperation efforts and deliver an education that conveys understanding and 

unity to the planner and practitioner of security cooperation, providing a unified effort 

to meet the perilous world created by our adversaries. 

For more information on DSCU see https://www.dscu.mil/. 

 
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Endnotes

1 Joint Publication 3‐20, “Security Cooperation,” 23 May 2017.    2 “Chapter 16‐Security Cooperation,” National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). FY 2017, § 384(a) and (b), 30

November 2016.    3 Description of the National Military Strategy, The Joint Staff, 2018.   4 Ibid.

5 National Security Strategy of the United States, White House, December 2017.   6 Ibid.

7 Defense Security Cooperation Agency, accessed 25 October 2019, https://www.dsca.mil/. 8 C. Todd Lopez, Defense.gov, “New defense school to educate, certify security cooperation

professionals,” 26 September 2018,

https://www.army.mil/article/227705/new_defense_school_to_educate_certify_security_coopera

tion_professionals.   9 “Chapter 16‐Security Cooperation,” NDAA 2017, § 384(e)(3).    11 Lopez, “New defense school.”