US Military Assistance Training Programs

From WolfWikis

Dating back to the 1940’s, the United States has invested a considerable amount of resources in the form of personnel and equipment in order to train Latin American officers and soldiers. This training is currently referenced under the term International Military Education and Training. While the U.S. government claims that the training enables “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”^[1] , many organizations have rallied against the use of these training programs that are felt to encourage unnecessary militarism and lead to human rights violations in Latin America.

Contents 1 History 2 Current Training Programs 2.1 Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation 2.2 Inter-American Air Force Academy 2.3 Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School 2.4 John F. Kennedy School for Special Warfare 2.5 Defense Language Institute English Language Center 2.6 Mobile Training Teams 3 Major Criticisms 4 References

History

The interests of the U.S. in Latin America have been to develop and preserve the security of the Western hemisphere, promote trade, extend democratic concepts and foster democratic governments throughout the area. The escalation of World War II in the 1940’s indicated a marked shift in U.S. policy. 1938 became a watershed year, resulting in the active engagement of the U.S. to building the military forces in the hemisphere in order to undercut Axis influence in Latin American military establishments.

Under the Mutual Security Act of 1951, the U.S. Congress appropriated $38,150,000.00 for the direct military assistance to Latin America. A specific part of this appropriation went toward the provision for the establishment of U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force Missions to assist in the training of the recipient Latin American Military Forces. In the following years, 13 Latin American countries would agree to U.S. military aid:

• 1952 – Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Peru
• 1953 – Brazil, Dominican Republic, Uruguay
• 1954 – Nicaragua, Honduras
• 1955 – Haiti, Guatemala
• 1958 – Bolivia

In 1961 the Kennedy Administration “decided to shift the basis of its military policy in Latin America from hemispheric defense to internal security, from protection of the hemisphere’s coastline and sea lanes to internal defense of Latin American governments against Castro-communist subersion, terrorism, and guerilla warfare.^[2] The emphasis required that military assistance programs concentrate on the development of small, mobile forces trained in the techniques of counter-insurgency and that U.S. anti-guerilla advisory teams began instructing Latin American military forces in these techniques. In that year, Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 authorized the new International Military Education and Training grants to provide military education and training to foreign military and civilian personnel.

By 1998, roughly 30 percent of IMET funding in Latin America went to "expanded IMET" (E-IMET). A subset of IMET, E-IMET funds non-combat courses that are available to some foreign civilians as well as to military personnel.

Current Training Programs

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) is a facility in the U.S. Army base at Fort Benning, Georgia that trains Latin American military personnel in a variety of military skills.

More commonly refered to by its previous name "The School of the Americas (SOA; Spanish: Escuela de las Américas)", the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) defines its mission statement that: The WHINSEC shall provide professional education and training to eligible personnel of nations of the Western Hemisphere within the context of the democratic principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States, while fostering mutual knowledge, openness, confidence, and cooperation among the participating nations and promoting democratic values, respect for human rights, and knowledge and understanding of United States customs and traditions.^[3]

Inter-American Air Force Academy

The Inter-American Air Forces Academy (IAAFA)is currently located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas and provides training to Latin American military personnel. Founded in 1943, the Academy defines its mission as fostering enduring Inter-American engagement through education and training. ^[4]

The 2002 course catalog for the school lists the following kinds of courses:

• Search and rescue
• Pilot instruction
• Communications equipment
• Repair and maintenance
• Logistics and supply management
• Intelligence

Legal authority for the Academy comes from Section 9415 of Title 10, U.S. Code: Under the law, the Academy may provide education and training to Latin American nations that are eligable to recieve assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School

Originally based in Panama, The U.S. Navy Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS) is currently located at Stennis Space Center in Gulfport, Mississipi trains Latin American sailors in the skills of patrol boat navigation and tactics to small craft mechanics. ^[5]

The training school is funded in part through the International Military Education and Training Program which in the past provided about $550,000 a year for students to attend.

The program uses its training to focus on countering ^[6]

• International terrorism
• Narcotics trafficking
• Smuggling

John F. Kennedy School for Special Warfare

Created in 1951 and originally known as the Psychological Warfare Division of the Army General School at Fort Riley, Kansas, the John F. Kennedy School for Special Warfare is currently at Fort Bragg, NC and is responsible for training special operations soldiers for the U.S. Army.

Its mission statement indicates that its purpose is to train Special Forces through development and evaluation of special operations concepts, doctrines, training. ^[7]

Defense Language Institute English Language Center

The Defense Language Institute English Language CenterDLIELC is an institute that is responsible for training international military and civilian personnel to speak and teach English. International students are sponsored by an agency of the Department of Defense and commonly include personnel from NATO member countries. ^[8]

DLIELC is currently ocatlocated at Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas.

Mobile Training Teams

Mobile Training Teams, according to a Pentagon publication, are made up of Defense Department personnel "on temporary duty in a foreign country for the purpose of training foreign personnel in the operation, maintenance, or other support of weapon systems and support equipment, as well as training for general military operations." A country may purchase a course taught by an MTT through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, or the MTT may be subsidized through security assistance programs such as the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.As they are not funded through the Pentagon's O&M account, and their primary purpose is to train foreign personnel, MTTs are not technically considered deployments for training.^[9]

Major Criticisms

Despite the well dictated mission statements and the success of IMET programs, there are many U.S. and internationally based organizations that are critical of the United States attempts at synchronizing military training at home and abroad.

The School of the Americas Watch (SOA) is one of the most outspoken organizations that is unified in the attempt at closing down the The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) because of drastic human rights violations by students who were trained at the school. Through the use of vigils, fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, media and legislative work, the SOA Watch is lobbying the U.S. Congress to cut the funding for the program.

The SOA Watch mission statement states that the "SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works to stand in solidarity with the people of Latin America, to close the SOA/WHINSEC and to change oppressive U.S. foreign policy that the SOA represents. We are grateful to our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America for their inspiration and the invitation to join them in their struggle for economic and social justice." ^[10]

The watch claims that WHINSEC has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers who have consistently used the skills to commit acts of violence against their own people. The SOA graduates are said to have targeted educators, union organizers, religious workers, and student leaders with torture, rape, assination, and murder.

On September 20, 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals that were used at the School of the Americas . The manuals advocated torture, extortion, blackmail and the targeting of civilian populations.^[11] The SOA Watch currently holds an annual protest outside the gates of Fort Benning Georgia in an effort to raise awareness about the schools activities.

References

1. ↑ 1997 Annual Defense Report, http://www.dod.mil/execsec/adr96/appendix_j.html
2. ↑ John M. Baines Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Vol. 14, No. 4, Special Issue: Military and Reform Governments in Latin America. (Nov., 1972), pp. 469-487.
3. ↑ Department of Defense Directive 5111.12, June 17,2002. http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/511112p.pdf
4. ↑ http://www.lackland.af.mil/iaafa/
5. ↑ United States Southern Command, Post-99 Theater Architecture: The Way Ahead, slideshow document, October 28, 1998.
6. ↑ United States, Department of Defense, Department of State, Foreign Military Training and DoD Engagement Activities of Interest in Fiscal Years 2003: A Report to Congress (Washington: March 2004).
7. ↑ http://www.soc.mil/swcs/swcs_default.htm
8. ↑ http://www.dlielc.org/
9. ↑ United States, Department of Defense, Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management, The Management of Security Assistance, 17th ed. (Wright-Patterson AFB, OH: May 1997): 736.
10. ↑ http://www.soaw.org/article.php?id=100
11. ↑ Priest, Dana. "U.S. Instructed Latins on Executions, Torture" Washington Post. Saturday, September 21st 1996.