Military assistance is a valuable instrument of U.S. national security and foreign policy. It helps friends and allies deter and defend against aggression and contributes to sharing the common defense burden. Military assistance is a range of programs that enable friends and allies to acquire U.S. equipment, services, and training for legitimate self-defense and for participation in multinational security efforts, such as coalition warfare and peacekeeping operations.
Military assistance promotes overseas presence and peacetime engagement by improving the defense capabilities of U.S. allies and friends, while demonstrating U.S. commitment to defend common interests. Adequate military capability among allies decreases the likelihood that U.S. armed forces will be necessary if conflict arises and raises the odds that U.S. armed forces will find a relatively favorable situation should a U.S. response be required. As an integral part of peacetime engagement, military assistance programs contribute to U.S. national security by enhancing deterrence, encouraging defense responsibility sharing among allies and friend, supporting U.S. readiness, and increasing interoperability among potential coalition partners.
Programs under military assistance include Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), emergency drawdowns of defense inventories, and grants of Excess Defense Articles (EDA). The structure of each program provides the capability to respond to the needs of foreign friends and allies by addressing their security concerns, while supporting U.S. armed forces and promoting U.S. foreign policy and national security interests.
The FMS program is the government-to-government channel for selling U.S. defense equipment services, and training. Sales in FY 1995 were approximately $9.1 billion. Responsible arms sales further national security and foreign policy objectives by preserving regional stability in areas important to U.S. interests through ensuring balance of military forces, strengthening U.S. bilaterial defense relations, and reducing incentives to acquire weapons of mass destruction. National benefits derived from these sales include an improved balance of trade, sustainment of highly skilled jobs, and generation of revenue for U.S. companies. DoD benefits from FMS through enhanced coalition capabilities of U.S. friends and allies, as well as extension of production lines and lowering of unit costs for key weapon systems, such as the M1A2 tank, F-16 aircraft, AH-64 (Apache) helicopters, and F/A-18 aircraft.
FMF is the primary U.S. government financing arm of military assistance. Congress appropriates funds in the International Affairs budget and the Department of Defense executes the program. The majority of FMF grants are designated to meet the continuing security needs of allies in the Middle East, but funding is also provided to assist defense development, counternarcotics, and demining efforts. FMF grants in FY 1995 totaled $3.154 billion, roughly equal to the FY 1994 level. After funding Israel and Egypt ($3.1 billion) and other earmarked programs, the less than $32 million in discretionary FMF funding was distributed to Jordan, counternarcotic country programs, Haiti, demining, and the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion. Greece and Turkey received market rate loans through FMF.
The IMET program is a low-cost grant program ($26.35 million in FY 1995) that provides professional military education and training to more than 3,300 foreign military and civilian personnel from over 100 countries annually. Over half a million foreign personnel have been trained through IMET sponsorship over the past three decades. By attending IMET-sponsored courses and programs in the United States, future leaders of foreign defense and related establishments are exposed to U.S. values, regard for human rights, democratic institutions, and the role of a professional military under civilian control.
To meet the challenges posed by recent transitions to democracy in countries throught the world, IMET has been expanded to include programs focusing on human rights, defense resource management, military justice, and civil-military relations. The IMET program remains one of DoD's highest priority military assistance programs. It is one of the least costly and most effective programs for maintaining U.S. influence and assisting countries in their transitions to functioning democracies.
Peacekeeping Operations
The number of situations requiring peacekeeping operations has risen dramatically in the past few years and can be expected to increase further in the years ahead. Military equipment and services may be provided to individual countries or international organizations participating in selected regional peacekeeping operations through security assistance sale and lease programs or grant authorities. During FY 1995, military equipment was provided to member nations of the Economic Community of West African States involved in a peacekeeping effort in Liberia, and to the nations contributing to the Baltic Peacekeeping Battalion, using FMS procedures and funding provided by the Department of State. The United Nations has also obtained a variety of military and support equipment on reimbursable lease and purchase agreement in support of peacekeeping programs in Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Haiti.
Emergency Drawdown Authorities
Section 506, Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) authorizes the President, on a grant basis, to draw down defense articles from DoD inventories and to provide defense services and military education and training to foreign governments and international organizations in response to military emergencies or to provide assistance for international narcotics control, international disaster relief, or refugee assistance. In FY 1995, Section 506(a)(1), FAA drawdowns for military emergencies totaled $32 million to support and help equip the Rapid Reaction Force for Bosnia. Section 552(c)(2), FAA authorizes drawdowns for Peacekeeping Operations. In FY 1995, Section 552 Peacekeeping Drawdowns for commodities and services were $5 million to help equip Palestinian police forces in support of the Middle East peace process and $7 million to support accelerated training of the new Haitian National Police Force.
Excess Defense Articles
EDA are equipment (other than miltary construction equipment) which are in excess of the Approved Force Acquisition Objective and Approved Force Retention Stock levels at the time such articles are dropped from the DoD inventory. Such articles may be sold to eligible countries and international organizations under the FMS program, or transferred on a grant basis under the provisions of Sections 516 through 520 of the FAA. During FY 1995, Congress was notified of EDA transfers totalling $504 million (current value at time of notification). Bahrain, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Spain were the largest recipients of EDA. Several Central European countries are now eligible to receive nonlethal grant EDA. Trucks and uniforms have been provided to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Albania under the program.
| Table J-1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MILITARY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS | ||||||
| Program | FY 1991 | FY 1992 | FY 1993 | FY 1994 | FY 1995 | FY1996 |
| FMS ($B) | 21 | 15.2 | 33 | 12.9 | 9.1 | 9.8 [a] |
| FMF Grants ($B) | 4.25 | 3.93 | 3.27 | 3.15 | 3.15 | 3.21 |
| FMF Loans ($M) | 478 | 345 | 855 | 770 | 558 | 544 |
| IMET ($M) | 47.2 | 44.6 | 42.5 | 22.25 | 26.35 [d] | 39.0 |
| EDA Grants ($M) [c] | 406 | 178 | 290 | 170 | 308 | [b] |
| EDA Sales ($M) [c] | 29 | 52 | 88 | 97 | 196 | [b] |
| [a] Estimated [b] EDA transfers are not projected for future years. [c] EDA figures reflect current value at time of notification [d] IMET for FY 1995 includes $850K transferred from Voluntary Peacekeeping Account | ||||||
As the U.S. armed forces continue to downsize and the requirement of potential coalition defense operations increases, military assistance programs will remain critical. The importance of such programs is recognized in both the National Security Strategy and the National Military Strategy.
