News Posts - Defense Security Cooperation University

DSCA and ISG would like to announce the Fiscal Year 2022 U.S. arms transfer figures, as well as other notable Security Cooperation community statistics highlighting the depth and breadth of U.S. Security Cooperation efforts.

Security Cooperation programs such as the Foreign Military Sales and International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs are important tools of U.S. foreign policy with potential long-term implications for the regional and global security of U.S. allies and partner nations. 

The ISG Team recently came together for a three-day on-site meeting in Monterey, California and online. Events included a recognition ceremony for Mr. Steven Peterson for his five years of leadership as ISG Director as well as a town hall welcoming Acting Director Mr. David Manero in which colleagues learned more about his vision for the Institute during this important transitional period. 

Happy New Year! In this issue of The ISG Heron, the Institute bids farewell to its Director, Steve Peterson, takes a look at notable Security Cooperation events in D.C., assesses Ukrainian National Resilience as a Shared Security Objectives, offers a standing ovation to Africa Regional Program Lead Jessie Evans, highlights Resident Education contributions from the “Strategies and Capabilities for Cyber Challenges” course, marks ISG's successful participation in the 2022 Gobi Wolf Exercise, wishes farewell to ISG Regional Advising colleagues, Linwood Ham and Gary Espinas, and provides updates from ISG HQ.

In October, The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) facilitated the second Joint Operational Planners Course (JOP) in Muscat, Oman for members of the Sultan’s Armed Forces (SAF) and other Omani Ministries. While the first workshop focused on a whole-of-government response to a cyclone disaster impacting the Omani coastline, this course presented a joint military and inter-ministry response to a simultaneous border incursion threatening the territorial sovereignty of Oman and a refugee crisis requiring humanitarian assistance. 

ISG’s Peacekeeping & Exercises Team recently returned from its support to the Yudh Abhyas Exercise – a bilateral training exercise held annually since 2004, aimed at promoting cooperation between the United States and Indian militaries, while sharing training, cultural exchanges, and building joint operating skills.

ISG has been a long-term implementation partner with U.S. Army Pacific. The Institute has developed and executed the Command Post Exercise (CPX) for Yudh Abhyas since 2010, and is responsible for the design, planning, and facilitation of the CPX based on guidelines agreed by U.S. and Indian commanders. 

The Institute for Security Governance recently met with senior officials from the Hungarian Ministry of Defence (MoD), Cyber Operations Command, and Hungarian Defence Forces (HDF) Transformation Command to assess current and future support to institutional capacity building objectives related to cyber operations and strategic defense planning. Engagements such as these help all parties involved be better prepared to respond to current national and regional security threats.

ISG recently delivered a series of three back-to-back courses at ISG HQ in Monterey related to defense acquisition and resource management to a cadre of Partner Nation participants from around the globe. International Defense Acquisition Resource Management (IDARM) courses and activities are designed to strengthen defense acquisition processes and decision-making, and to help nations understand and adopt modern business practices. IDARM  Courses can cover a combination of interrelated subjects, with the goal of offering defense leaders the opportunity to explore strategic issues, which must be addressed in order to improve their nation’s defense acquisition processes and business practices. Courses are tailored to the specific government organizational structures, national acquisition statutes and regulations, and defense acquisition objectives of the Partner Nation.

Read more about ISG’s Resident and Mobile Education courses: https://instituteforsecuritygovernance.org/schoolhouse-hub

The Institute for Security Governance recently concluded a Maritime Domain Awareness course at the Philippines’ National Coast Watch Center in Manila for senior-level Navy, Coast Guard, and civilian officials. The course combined general instruction with interactive learning activities including a SWOT analysis and a table-top exercise.

ISG conducted the second iteration of the "Women, Leadership, and National Defense" course at ISG headquarters in Monterey, CA. The course was attended by 24 participants from 17 countries. Learning modules were delivered by a variety of academic, government, and non-governmental subject matter experts, and covered a range of topics from the effects of gendered domestic laws on women’s advancement, to gender and trafficking of persons. The course sets the stage for improved country-level women, peace, and security (WPS) related efforts in the participant countries.

Inter-agency stakeholders from across the Armenian government recently gathered to discuss findings from an all-hazards national-level Disaster Preparedness Capacity Assessment led by the Institute for Security Governance. This assessment and strategic dialogue came at a pivotal moment for Armenia. This effort was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Kansas National Guard, and the U.S. Embassy of Armenia.

The Institute for Security Governance recently participated in the mid-year Joint Committee Meeting hosted by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Koror Palau. ISG engaged with the Palauan delegation regarding Institutional Capacity Building activities to complement the ongoing Defense Institute of International Legal Studies Maritime Security legal assistance effort.

The Institute for Security Governance recently traveled to Niamey, Niger to work alongside the Niger Armed Forces, the US Office of Security Cooperation, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies on institutional Noncommissioned Officer (NCO) Development. 

This effort aligns with the US Secretary of Defense’s priority to address persistent threats on the African continent by strengthening partner security.

ISG Regional Advising Principal Scott Woodruff Lyons recently published an article titled, “The U.S.’s Recent Enhanced Efforts to Fight Corruption by Protected Individuals” in the latest issue of The American Society of International Law's ASIL Insights. The article spotlights a legal case against a former Sri Lankan Ambassador to illustrate how the United States is making strides in its fight against corruption, in this case, by foreign officials. 

The Institute for Security Governance along with United States Army Pacific, CMO Bangladesh Armed Forces Division, and Oregon National Guard conducted the opening ceremony for the 2022 Bangladesh Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE). 

DREE is an earthquake disaster related exercise, which has been conducted in Bangladesh since 2010. ISG has been playing a leading role in the management and coordination of the event, and will be kicking off the table-top exercise portion shortly.

There are over 18 Partner nations attending the DREE Physically.

An ISG team recently visited the 162nd Wing in Tucson, Arizona. The 162nd Wing is the U.S. lead for training F-16 pilots for foreign partners and allies, including Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The team met with Partner Nation student pilots, received a tour of base facilities, and were given the opportunity to try the F-16 flight simulators. The visit provided an excellent opportunity to learn more about how the Partners train, and how ISG might work with the 162 WG for successful employment of Partner F-16 programs in support of air policing and NATO air operations.  

Members of ISG recently met with Slovakian Ministry of Defence (MoD), General Staff, and HQ Air Force personnel to learn about air operations related to the arrival of new F-16 aircraft. Collaboration with Slovakian Partners was invaluable to developing an integrated, long-term institutional capacity building (ICB) program related to Slovakian F-16 air operations in support of national and regional defense efforts.

ISG Africa Regional Program Lead Dr. Whitney Grespin’s recently published an article titled, “Things Fall Apart: Soviet Assistance to the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–1977” in the latest issue of The Journal of African Military History. In this piece, Dr. Grespin and co-author Mr. Matthew Marchese noted, “As Cold War tensions rose, Soviet aid was offered to the nascent Somali government in pursuit of broader geopolitical machinations that were seen to supersede Somali interests, laying the groundwork for a decades-long mismatch between local intentions and Cold War superpower objectives in the Horn of Africa.” The result of this mismatch, they argue, “left Somalia with an unsustainable, corrupt, and repressive security structure as a direct result of high levels of foreign assistance that were not well coordinated with host nation sustainment capabilities.”

In this issue of The ISG Heron, the Institute reflects on the DSCA Director’s fruitful visit to ISG, applauds ISG's Resident Advisor to Lithuania for receiving the Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, welcomes new colleagues, marks the successful conclusion of the two-year educating-the-educators mobile seminar series in Ghana, offers a standing ovation to Emergency Management & Resilience colleagues, highlights Resident Education in Logistics Capacity Building, spotlights ICB Advising achievements in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and many more newsworthy developments.

As the lead coordinating entity for 10th annual Exercise Gobi Wolf 2022, The Institute for Security Governance (ISG) brought together stakeholders from U.S. Army Pacific, the Alaska Air and Army National Guard, the U.S. Forest Service, and the international community to exchange expertise and best practices in disaster response. Taking place in early September in Bayankhongor, Mongolia, Exercise Gobi Wolf is part of the Pacific Resilience Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) program, which focuses on interagency coordination and foreign humanitarian assistance. The six-day exercise featured three main events: an expert academic discussion, tabletop exercise, and field training exercise.

ISG’s Maritime Security Functional Lead, Tim Doorey and his team recently returned from leading a five-day Institutional Capacity Building workshop in Sri Lanka focused on comprehensive approaches to building Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The event was in coordination with the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka, where 29 officers from the Sri Lanka Navy, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, Attorney General’s Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Merchant Shipping Secretariat and Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources took part in the training.

Topics covered in the training included: human capital development, community resource management, operation research tools for maritime search and interception, building MDA capabilities to enhance operational effectiveness, decision making at all levels, and developing and maintaining partner fusion centers. The course culminated with all 30 participants working a comprehensive tabletop exercise.

ISG Resident Advisor to the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. David Antonik, received the Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service from Vice Minister of Defense Mr. Vilius Semesk earlier this month. Bravo Zulu!

Mr. Antonik deployed to Vilnius, Lithuania in August 2021 to support the Lithuanian Military of Defense on strategic logistics matters. To learn more about Mr. Antonik's background, check out his bio.