Foreign area officer A Foreign Area Officer ( FAO ) is a commissioned officer from any of the four branches of the United States Armed Forces who is a regionally focused expert in political - military operations . Such officers possess a unique combination of strategic focus and regional expertise , with political , cultural , sociological , economic , and geographic awareness . Foreign language proficiency is necessary in at least one of the dominant languages in their specified region . A FAO will typically serve overseas tours as a defense attaché , a security assistance officer , or as a political - military planner in a service ' s headquarters , Joint Staff , Major Command s , Unified Combatant Command s , or in agencies of the Department of Defense . They also serve as arms control specialists , country desk officers , liaison officer s , and Military Personnel Exchange Program ( MPEP ) officer to host nation or coalition allies . Recently , increasing numbers of FAOs are serving as political and cultural advisors to combatant staffs in support of the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan . Presently , there are just over 2 , 200 FAOs in active operational capacities , while roughly 25 percent are still in training . The services plan to recruit and train more than 170 a year , with almost 1 , 100 new FAOs entering the program by 2014 . Roles and responsibilities of FAOs are extensive and varied . They advise senior leaders on political - military operations and relations with other nations , provide cultural expertise to forward - deployed commands conducting military operations , built and maintain long - term relationships with foreign leaders , develop and coordinate security cooperation , execute security assistance programs with host nations , and develop reports on diplomatic , information , military , and economic activities . Army . The Army Foreign Area Officer Program is a single - track FAO program managed by G - 35 , SSF , which is the Strategic Leadership Division . It is by far the largest and oldest FAO program of the Services . The Proponent Office is responsible for establishing policy guidance and FAO career field development as well as establishing specific programs focused on the accession , training , education , distribution , utilization , deployment , and separation of FAOs . Currently , there are 1 , 257 Army FAOs either in training or fully qualified . Army FAOs are categorized by areas of concentration that correspond with their respective military occupational specialty , further grouped in scope by functional areas . Army FAOs are divided into nine categories of regional areas of expertise and language skills : Marine Corps . The International Affairs Officer Program replaced the FAO and International Relations Officer Program in the Marine Corps in 2000 , which is an umbrella program that governs two separate , but interrelated military occupational specialty : the Foreign Area Officer ( 994x ) and the Regional Affairs Officer ( 982x ) designations . Much like the USAF dual - track system , RAOs are basically FAOs without local language skills . There are approximately 280 FAOs and 80 RAOs in the Marine Corps , distributed amongst the following specialties : Navy . The Navy FAO Branch is a restricted line community of the Navy . The Navy currently has 212 FAOs either fully qualified or in training . Navy FAOs are assigned the following designators : Navy FAOs are apportioned amongst the five regional Unified Combatant Command s : Air Force . The International Affairs Specialist Program is the Air Force component , and encompasses two officer types : the Regional Affairs Strategist and Political - Military Affairs Strategist . Both tracks remain under the Air Force Specialty Code 16 : 16F for RAS and 16P for PAS . PAS development begins in conjunction with Intermediate Developmental Education , and officers serve in similar positions as RAS officers do , but perform duties that require a broad knowledge of political - military affairs rather than regional expertise with foreign language skills . RAS officers are distributed amongst the following subcategories : Accession & training . Acceptance into the FAO programs typically requires at least 7 – 10 years of commissioned service , since most FAO positions are designated for that of a field - grade officer ( Marines being the exception , whom only require 3 years ) . The FAO accession process is lengthy process and requires meticulous review of every candidate applying . While all DoD branches are in the process of expanding their FAO ( or FAO equivalent ) Programs , FAO accession remains one of the most highly competitive processes of the US military . On average , more than eight candidates compete for every single FAO slot available . Generally speaking , applicants must have at a minimum the following : FAO training varies amongst all four DoD branches , but usually takes a minimum of 3 – 5 years before FAOs can utilize their skills in an operational capacity , depending upon the qualifications of the candidate at the time of accession . A long road exists between accession and full FAO qualification . It takes between 3 – 5 years of training , education , and actual FAO tour performance before FAO trainees are ever even considered for full designation and qualification as an FAO . Standard requirements of fully qualified FAOs generally include the following : The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness is the proponent for FAO programs for the DoD . He or she establishes DoD accession , education , and utilization policy for Foreign Area Officers . FAO guidance , directives , and standards for all military branch FAO programs are promulgated by DoD Directive 1315 . 17 . The Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence oversees FAO capabilities , needs , and utilization in the DoD Agencies that they respectively supervise . For combat support activities , such oversight is conducted in conjunction with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Defense Language Office ensures a strategic focus on meeting present and future requirements for language and regional expertise , among military and civilian employees . This office ' s main responsibilities are to oversee and manage the implementation of a comprehensive Department - wide Language Transformation Roadmap ; identify policy , procedural , and resource needs associated with providing needed language capability ; oversee policy regarding the development , management , and utilization of civilian employees and members of the Armed Forces ; and conduct research and analyze studies , reports , and lessons learned from the Global War on Terrorism and current military operations as they pertain to language and regional area expertise . Leadership . While promotion levels vary between the branches , retention rates of FAOs are higher than service averages . The bulk of the FAO community is primarily composed of field grade officers , though general and flag officer s include General John Abizaid , Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry , Lieutenant General Keith Dayton , Brigadier General Charles Hooper , Brigadier General Richard M . Lake , Brigadier General Henry Nowak , Brigadier General Mark O ’ Neill , Brigadier General Kevin Ryan , and Rear Admiral Douglas Venlet .