Photo By Jasmine Garcia | AMB Canavan (left) and MAJ. Erika L. Legg, Bilateral Affairs Officer to the Republic...... read more read more
The Defense Security Cooperation University’s (DSCU) Defense SCO Institute (DSI) graduated its first 16 Security Cooperation Organization (SCO) Qualification Course students Dec. 6, 2024. This eight-week course, the first of its kind wholly taught in the National Capital Region (NCR), offered new educational opportunities targeted toward preparation for SCO activities such as strategic planning, cross-functional collaboration, and improving agility needed to keep up with the pace of the evolving field of security cooperation.
The student body for the first SCO Qualification Course represented the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard; the Montana and Virginia National Guards; and the Department of Defense (DOD) civilian workforce.
DSCU’s DSI was established in the NCR in October 2024 to serve as the DOD SCO schoolhouse. SCO personnel are the primary representatives for security cooperation in their assigned country.
“With Title 10 U.S. Code Section 384, revised in the 2024 NDAA Section 1204 as our orders, DSCU is committed to ensuring those who represent the Department to partner nations are a professionalized force with the training and support necessary to advance national security objectives,” said Dr. Celeste W. Gventer, DSCU President.
DSI offers tailored education and training to SCO personnel, their families, and locally employed staff to prepare them for their unique scope of responsibilities.
Concurrent to the SCO Qualification Course, five students graduated the four-week SCO Spouse Course. DSI’s SCO Spouse Course provides vital networking opportunities and is designed to prepare spouses to be “family force multipliers.” The course enhances mission readiness in the wide variety of global assignments and environments where they will serve alongside their spouses.
The SCO Qualification Course provides crucial, foundational knowledge for executing SCO activities with allies and partners to meet national security objectives. Delivery of the curriculum includes reality-based exercises involving role-play scenarios relative to students’ countries of assignment, with former U.S. ambassadors, senior defense officials, and SCO chiefs.
In addition, participants complete the Department of State-mandated Foreign Affairs Counter Threat (FACT) Course.
“The new curriculum, including tailored instruction based on assigned locations, and the NCR location empower students to build robust relationships with relevant security cooperation, DOD, and interagency stakeholders,” Mr. Mike Skaggs, DSI Director, further explained. “DSI provides the next generation of SCO personnel with the education, training, and support they deserve to succeed in challenging and dynamic assignments.”
About
DSCU is the DOD's primary security cooperation educational institution. Its mission is to advance the knowledge and practice of security cooperation through education, training, workforce development, advising, research, analysis, and lessons learned.
| Date Taken: | 01.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2025 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 489109 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 311 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, New DSCU SCO Qualification Course Concludes, by Mallory Thornton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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