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thedrifter
10-11-05, 07:14 PM
October 17, 2005
Corps looks to boost size, prestige of FAO ranks
By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer

With increasing interest among Pentagon leaders in fostering broader cultural and language expertise throughout the services, a small cadre of leatherneck officers with expertise in foreign cultures soon could increase in size, capability and prestige.

Foreign area officers and regional affairs officers have become key players in the war on terrorism. Prompted by a directive from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last spring, Marine officials are examining how many regional experts are needed, how they could better maintain language proficiency and what the best path for promotion may be.

Solutions are still in the works, but officials say there likely will be more FAOs and RAOs, and they’re going to have to be a lot smarter.

“Most of these folks are willing to step out of the comfort zone of a straight-up-the-middle career path,” said Col. Daniel Hahne, head of the international issues branch of the Plans, Policies and Operations section at Marine Corps headquarters.

Both FAOs and RAOs learn detailed information about a particular region, gaining a post-baccalaureate degree in national security studies focusing on such regions as South Asia or the Middle East.

The training for a FAO goes further, requiring demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language and a posting for more than a year in a foreign country.

“My observation is they’re folks willing to get off the beaten path,” Hahne said. “FAOs are the guys who’ll go past the beer tent on the pier and actually out into town.”

FAOs are posted at 71 billets throughout the Defense Department, including the Defense Intelligence Agency, NATO, regional commands and Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters. After the FAO tour, officers often are called back to give counsel to commanders who want to make sure they step on as few toes as possible during operations, Hahne said.

The Corps is looking at how many FAOs and RAOs it needs. Officials say the number could grow as greater emphasis is put on cultural education as a key tool in America’s war on terrorism. Right now, the Corps has about 250 FAOs and 105 RAOs.

Marine officials also are studying how to meet and maintain the higher language standards required by Rumsfeld’s memo, Hahne said. Currently, FAOs must maintain what’s called a “two-two-two” language proficiency — meaning they can speak, read and write the language at a level of “two” on a scale of one to five, with five being the language proficiency of a native speaker.

The Corps also will have to demonstrate a “viable career path” for FAOs and RAOs, making it more worthwhile for Marines to devote three years to a secondary specialty and still be considered for advancement.

The Army has soldiers whose primary specialties are in foreign-area expert fields. The Navy has recently designated a career path for new FAOs, as well. But the Corps plans to keep the FAO and RAO specialties as secondary skills while still making them good résumé-builders for officers who have chosen a tour that is different from their primary specialty.

Ellie