Introduction
The integration of host nation Liaison Officers (LNOs) into U.S. Security Cooperation Organizations (SCOs) serves to meet U.S. strategic and operational objectives. The concept of integrated deterrence, as outlined in the U.S. National Defense Strategy, stresses a holistic approach combined with our allies and partners to increase shared understanding, optimizing future investments. Integrating our partners into security cooperation allows both sides to better understand how our forces operate in peacetime and how we could operate together in times of crisis by providing cultural familiarity and mitigating unexpected risks. It also gives our partners a stake in security cooperation activities that offer a tangible benefit to their forces while helping navigate host nation policy limitations. The value of host nation LNOs as a force multiplier is unrivaled in a small SCO, where a handful of security cooperation officers are expected to manage the same programs as larger SCOs with the same expectation of success. In a resource-constrained environment, where resources are a zero-sum game, LNOs are a game changer.
Background
In 2014, the government of Ecuador ordered the SCO to cease operations and for all SCO personnel to leave Ecuador. At the time, SCO Ecuador had 20 Department of Defense military and civilian personnel assigned, managing $7 million per year in security cooperation funding. In 2018, the government of Ecuador requested to re-open the SCO and restart security cooperation. When SCO Ecuador re-opened, it had a staff of nine personnel that eventually grew to 10 by 2022, handling an average of $30 million per year in security cooperation funding. Managing over four times the budget with half the staff would be challenging for any organization but this challenge was compounded by the host nation’s demand for U.S. security cooperation activities. Significantly reduced military budgets accompanied the four-year gap in cooperation, so when the government of Ecuador decided to re-open security cooperation with the United States, senior leadership in the Ecuadorian government jumped at the chance to tap into U.S. security cooperation resources again. Many of the military leaders were graduates of U.S. professional military education programs or worked with U.S. forces in training exercises prior to the closing of the SCO.
The renewed relationship was given increased importance by the Combatant Command, and SCO Ecuador quickly found itself overrun with regular security cooperation activities, visits from distinguished visitors, and exercises. Across the competition continuum, material solutions highlighted by the partner nation and strategic objectives from the Combatant Command meant SCO Ecuador needed to implement a new approach to security cooperation to address the increased demands. With the approval of the U.S. Ambassador, the Chief of the Ecuadorian Joint Command, and the Combatant Commander, SCO Ecuador mapped the inclusion of LNOs into the security operation activities by defining opportunities, investments, operational reach, and gaps to establish coordination lanes while creating partner buy-in.
Building Trust to Strengthen Partnerships
In small SCOs with limited personnel, allocating duties effectively and prioritizing objectives is crucial. LNOs can support navigating bureaucratic processes, which can be challenging for foreign personnel. Having LNOs on the team leads to quicker response times because they utilize local knowledge and connections to facilitate time-sensitive efforts. They can handle many day-to-day interactions, coordination, and communication tasks, allowing SCO personnel to focus on high priority items such as strategic planning and decision-making.
LNOs offer intrinsic benefits that even the most seasoned Foreign Area Officer (FAO) must spend years on the ground to obtain. LNOs provide cultural and language expertise, pre-existing relationships, access, trust, and local insight. As natives of the host nation, they have knowledge of the operational environment, including the terrain, geopolitics, and key stakeholders. They possess a deep understanding of local customs and can assist in creating and nurturing a contact network for an FAO. This expertise is invaluable in building trust and bridging cultural and communication gaps to facilitate effective collaboration between the SCO and host nation counterparts. LNOs can extend an FAO’s operational reach, which minimizes risk and promotes continuity by establishing and maintaining complex relationships with local military, government, and community officials. Host nation counterparts (civil and military agencies) may be willing to share information with an LNO due to shared cultural and professional ties, which otherwise may be unavailable to foreign personnel. Thus, the LNO;s credibility in the security cooperation enterprise enhances information sharing and overall security cooperation efforts. LNOs increase the influence of the SCO by providing untethered access to the military and political decision-makers while optimizing credibility with supporting enterprises from the Combatant Command to the Embassy Country Team.
Integrating LNOs into daily operations in a SCO requires striking a balance between operational effectiveness, protecting information, and compliance with the administrative policies of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of State. The SCO Ecuador LNO selection process started by reaching out to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Defense and asking for candidates. SCO Ecuador requested one LNO per service between the ranks of O4 and O5 plus a non-commissioned officer from any of the services. All LNO candidates were required to take the same English language test that international military students take and achieve a minimum score of 70. After background checks were complete and access was granted for the LNOs, they went through a week-long onboarding process to get a background in security cooperation programs and how the SCO operates. Part of this process was assuring LNO personnel understood their role within the SCO, with their service, and information sharing limitations. SCO leadership determined that any information we would share with the Ecuadorian military via official correspondence would be accessible for our LNOs for coordination to ensure partner nation military staff members had ample time to conduct internal planning and sequence operations to avoid overwhelming operating forces while maximizing information flow and facilitating decision making at the appropriate level.
Countering Threats by Denying Access
Denying access by providing access sounds counterintuitive, but this is the best way to describe the strategic advantage that the integration of host nation LNOs provides. While strategic competitors may provide security cooperation, most do not run the equivalent of a SCO to manage this cooperation, nor would they allow partner nations to have a stake in this cooperation. Competitors often provide random acts of security cooperation instead of targeted assistance that meets both partner and their objectives. Rather than sitting down with the partner nation and developing a combined plan for security cooperation, like the Ecuador Security Sector Assistance Roadmap, they give items that look great for the donation photo but aren’t always value added to the partner nation. While the U.S. may not always be able to match the big splash of these donations, we can offer something much more valuable. Integrating host nation LNOs from each partner force service provides a benefit for the partner nation that will outlast any material donation. Partner nation LNOs get to see firsthand how highly trained U.S. security cooperation professionals work and how they can return these lessons to their forces. Also, the LNOs get a joint perspective on cooperation. In small SCOs, working jointly is not an option; it is necessary to get the mission done. In many partner countries, cross-communication between military services is rare. Still, as the LNOs work with U.S. personnel from different services and their fellow LNOs, they can share their experiences coordinating security cooperation activities and again build on lessons learned.
In Ecuador, where our partners are re-learning how to manage cooperation programs for their benefit, cross-communication and learning from our example allows our partners to become more self-sufficient. Even though they may be reliant on the U.S. for equipment sustainment, they can now manage this sustainment themselves. This is something that no competitor in the world can match and truly gives the U.S. an asymmetric advantage over our competitors. Presence matters in competition, and this concept works both ways; U.S. presence with our partners and partner presence with the U.S. provides this advantage. Building this advantage in times of peace will pay great dividends in times of crisis. LNOs are essential in ensuring supporting units receive required guidance, communicating task requirements, and coordinating supporting actions. When this happens during daily operations as part of coordinating security cooperation, lines of communication are established, practiced, and ready to be utilized during any contingency.
Mission Impact for Team DoD
With less than six months in the office, the LNOs have already produced results. Getting answers to questions that used to take several weeks is now taking several hours because the LNOs leverage their contacts within their service. This has allowed the United States and locally employed staff personnel in the SCO to use their time more efficiently, focusing on essential tasks instead of gathering information. In summary, LNOs provide the SCO access to achieve its missions more efficiently and with a more significant strategic impact. They offer a human connection to the geo-political dynamics of the host nation and assist SCOs in adapting their planning strategies. Host nation LNOs serve as an invaluable force multiplier by expanding the SCO’s capacity and effectiveness in daily security cooperation and optimizing essential connections that can be leveraged for contingency and disaster response operations, which enhances the SCO’s strategic relevance and credibility in the country and the region.