Security Assistance

Despite the end of the Cold War, most U.S. security assistance continues to go to the same nations. In fiscal year 1989, six countries--Israel, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, and the Philippines--received the bulk of such funding, a trend that continued in proposed funding for fiscal year 1993. In the wake of radical changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the United States has added new security assistance goals, including stronger support for emerging democracies and increased aid to fight drug trafficking. These newfound objectives have freed up aid to several new recipients, including the former Soviet Republics and some Central European countries. The scope of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) Program expanded in fiscal year 1991 to include educating civilians in high-level government posts. The intent is to improve civilian/military relations and civilian control over the military. Although the law stipulates human rights awareness as part of the IMET program, the Defense Department does not provide specific human rights training. The Army and, to a lesser extent, the Marines have established specific programs to train Foreign Service Officers assigned to Security Assistance Organizations. The Air Force and the Navy, however, lack special programs. The Security Assistance Organization officers GAO contacted had mixed opinions on whether assignments to this area hinder career advancement.

GAO found that: (1) the programs' emphasis has shifted from responding to perceived threats to supporting emerging democracies, due to changes in the world's political structure; (2) the Gulf War and international drug trafficking show that threats to vital U.S. interests have continued, and coalition building remains an essential objective; (3) the major recipients of security assistance during the Cold War continue to receive the bulk of funding; (4) the Department of Defense (DOD) developed an initiative to focus IMET program training on civilian control over the military, defense resources management, military justice systems, and human rights education; (5) both host country and U.S. officials believe IMET training has taught civilian and military personnel how to interact, and thus increased their cooperation and understanding; (6) while the United States funds military civil action projects to promote infrastructure and improve living conditions, some host countries sponsor such projects without U.S. involvement; (7) only one school with the IMET program teaches a civil action course; (8) most students receive technical training and little human rights awareness training; and (9) DOD has increased its emphasis on developing military justice/human rights training courses, but has no system for monitoring the effectiveness of such training. GAO also found that: (1) each military service has its own selection and promotion process for personnel assigned to security assistance organizations, with the Army and the Marine Corps having specific programs; and (2) except for the Army, an officer's career advancement was not helped by a security assistance assignment.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Team: Phone: