What is Air Force Foreign Military Sales Really About?

  • Published
  • By Jonathan Tharp, AF Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio (AFLCMC) -- Do a quick Internet Search for foreign military sales. You’ll see the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announcing major multi-billion-dollar deals of various countries purchasing U.S. Air Force weapon systems. You’ll see a lot of highly technical information about U.S. aircraft, missiles, and logistics.

With everything that you do see, there’s even more that goes unseen. Meet the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate. It manages all of the unseen work critical to delivering airpower capabilities to Partner Nations. A lot of the work goes unseen because it’s considered sensitive to ensure National Security of the United States and its Partner Nations.

A lot of the FMS work goes unseen simply because it’s not glamorous. However, some of the most unglamorous work is the most critical. For example, relationship-building activity fits here. Much of the daily FMS task involve regular communication with countries, building relationships with them.

Sitting down with AFSAC Command Country Manager Dan Waite, he highlights how relationship-building is critical to the FMS and AFSAC mission to deliver airpower capabilities to our Partner Nations.

In order to execute FMS cases, AFSAC CCMs like Waite are constantly interfacing with all of the FMS stakeholders involved to keep everyone aligned:
  • FMS Line Managers: works in the United States Air Force (USAF) focused on a specific program or line item in an FMS case (e.g. aircraft, missile, construction, logistics, etc)
  • Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG): works in the U.S. embassies of Partner Countries to identify aircraft weapon system needs of Country.
  • Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA): governs FMS for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force; publicizes the major arms sales that go to U.S. Congress for approval.
  • Under Secretary of Defense / Acquisition and Sustainment
  • Secretary of the Air Force / International Affairs (SAF/IA)
  • Secretary of the Air Force / Acquisition (SAF/AQ)
  • Air Force Materiel Command
  • Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (parent organization to AFSAC Directorate)
In addition to the above U.S. stakeholders, the CCM makes perhaps the most difference in direct relationship building efforts with each Partner Nation.  The CCM serves as the Partner Nation’s window into the U.S. Government and the FMS process—a trusted teammate committed to the Partner Nation’s security through a strong, long-term relationship of mutual benefit with shared goals.

Reflecting on the importance of relationship-building, Waite shares how he got started with AFSAC. During the summer of 2019, he participated in a development trainee management program. During the event, former AFLCMC Commander Lt. Gen. Robert McMurry prompted the audience, “What’s the most important thing for you to focus on in your job? Hint: it’s not integrity. It’s critical but that’s not it.”

The general officer paused and then explained a parallel of someone preparing to do brain surgery. “If you need brain surgery, you don’t need someone who has read everything there is to know about it, you need someone who has the experience, that has the on the job skills.”
 
  1. Become proficient and learn your craft.
McMurry continued to his second point. “Develop relationships with your peers. You never know who you will end up working with in the future. Odds are, if you stick around long enough, you will end up working with someone you have worked with in the Past.”
 
  1. Build relationships.
Third and finally, McMurray concluded with the importance of a solid sounding Board “You need mentors throughout your career to guide you. These relationships will help you achieve your goals and provide you with invaluable feedback.”
 
  1. Get a good mentor.
Much of the skills in jobs are relationship-based. FMS is no different. The multi-billion dollar aircraft deal won’t happen without AFSAC CCMs nurturing relationships with our Partner Countries and Air Force FMS enterprise. “When we communicate clearly with our partners and FMS stakeholders throughout the enterprise, we create trust. This is an essential skill to the FMS workforce and critical to accomplishing the mission and realizing the vision of AFSAC,” Waite said. 

About the AFSAC Directorate (just “AFSAC” for short)
On a daily basis, AFSAC is either onboarding new USAF international partners or nurturing 100+ existing global partnerships to ensure optimal military inoperability around the world as a part of the U.S. NSD.

Under the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, AFSAC leads the Air Force Materiel Command Foreign Military Sales Enterprise. Its cases span over 100 countries and a total portfolio value of over $145 billion, managing weapon systems in various life phases (from cradle to grave) and technologies ranging from the 1940s to the most recently fielded systems.