Posted on Aug 13, 2015
Does anyone have information or have heard of the Foreign Area NCO Program (FANCO)?
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The Army approved and funded a Regional Broadening Pilot Program (RBPP) which provides regionally focused experience and expertise for officers and noncommissioned officers (NCOs). The NCO component of RBBP, known as the Foreign Area NCO (FANCO) Program, provides language training, region specific academics, regional travel, and exposure to various bilateral engagements and exercises. At present, there are three participating NCOs from four of six Army Service Component Commands (U.S. Army Africa, U.S. Army Europe, U.S. Army Central, and U.S. Army Pacific). NCOs have critical roles at all levels of the Army. By providing additional training through RBBP, and utilizing their expertise at U.S. Embassies and at our Army Service Component Commands to plan our bilateral and multilateral engagements, we are ensuring that we grow Adaptive Leaders who can execute Regionally Aligned Force missions.
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Greetings to all in this thread.
Thanks for this post about this interesting -- and long-overdue, IMPO -- development.
As a long-time FAO (FA48G Middle East / "Gulfie"), I applaud and welcome this beneficial development. My involvement and assignments ranged across the spectrum of embassy attache/military LNO, Security Cooperation, DA Staff, DIA, and detail to UN (UN Special Commission on Iraq, aka UNSCOM).
The differences between the stream of selection, training, integration, employment and management/support of junior and senior NCOs assigned to duty in DIA's Defense Attache System (DAS, now part of DH) are very clear and distinctive from those provided for assignment to SCOs.
I would appreciate additional details about the FANCO participants from ARCENT (CENTCOM) and USARAFRICA (AFRICOM) and the nature of their PME / PD programs for qualification as FANCOs?
The managers of ARCENT FANCOs might consider implementing 3-4-6-month
"operational intership" tours performed on TDY/attachment with the major DOD OSCs in Saudi Arabia: USMTM (US Army Section), OPM SANG, OPM MOI, OPM SFS, or SFS TAG.
FYI, the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) takes development and proper use of a professional NCO corps very seriously (per field observations during my year in SA as Chief Trainer for Intelligence, SOF and C3I with SANG units and military schools), as does the separate Airborne Units and Special Forces Command of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) in Tabuk (per my return visit there for a training site survey last October).
Where and when do FANCOs receive any language training?
The ARCENT participants are welcome to my collection of useful "read ahead" reference materials (most focus on Saudi Arabia and adjacent GCC countries, Jordan, Turkey, and Yemen). For the USARAFRICA FANCOs, same offer stands ref Egypt, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Direct email address is < [login to see] >.
Those at HQDA who operate this RBPP for our Army's NCO population might well look at and assess the features of the USMC's earlier -- albeit different in several ways and approaches -- Foreign Area Staff NCO (FAS) program. The USMC FAS program includes award and posting of a "free" (i.e. "stand-alone") MOS. DA might consider a PSI / ASI for FANCOs similar to the earlier (now-gone) officer ASI for "Security Assistance."
Hope this helps. Today is Thursday, 22 October 2015.
Regards,
Stephen H. Franke
LTC, US Army Retired
San Pedro (Los Angele Waterfront Area), California
Thanks for this post about this interesting -- and long-overdue, IMPO -- development.
As a long-time FAO (FA48G Middle East / "Gulfie"), I applaud and welcome this beneficial development. My involvement and assignments ranged across the spectrum of embassy attache/military LNO, Security Cooperation, DA Staff, DIA, and detail to UN (UN Special Commission on Iraq, aka UNSCOM).
The differences between the stream of selection, training, integration, employment and management/support of junior and senior NCOs assigned to duty in DIA's Defense Attache System (DAS, now part of DH) are very clear and distinctive from those provided for assignment to SCOs.
I would appreciate additional details about the FANCO participants from ARCENT (CENTCOM) and USARAFRICA (AFRICOM) and the nature of their PME / PD programs for qualification as FANCOs?
The managers of ARCENT FANCOs might consider implementing 3-4-6-month
"operational intership" tours performed on TDY/attachment with the major DOD OSCs in Saudi Arabia: USMTM (US Army Section), OPM SANG, OPM MOI, OPM SFS, or SFS TAG.
FYI, the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) takes development and proper use of a professional NCO corps very seriously (per field observations during my year in SA as Chief Trainer for Intelligence, SOF and C3I with SANG units and military schools), as does the separate Airborne Units and Special Forces Command of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) in Tabuk (per my return visit there for a training site survey last October).
Where and when do FANCOs receive any language training?
The ARCENT participants are welcome to my collection of useful "read ahead" reference materials (most focus on Saudi Arabia and adjacent GCC countries, Jordan, Turkey, and Yemen). For the USARAFRICA FANCOs, same offer stands ref Egypt, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Direct email address is < [login to see] >.
Those at HQDA who operate this RBPP for our Army's NCO population might well look at and assess the features of the USMC's earlier -- albeit different in several ways and approaches -- Foreign Area Staff NCO (FAS) program. The USMC FAS program includes award and posting of a "free" (i.e. "stand-alone") MOS. DA might consider a PSI / ASI for FANCOs similar to the earlier (now-gone) officer ASI for "Security Assistance."
Hope this helps. Today is Thursday, 22 October 2015.
Regards,
Stephen H. Franke
LTC, US Army Retired
San Pedro (Los Angele Waterfront Area), California
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