Career Development for the Department of Defense Security Cooperation Workforce

Security cooperation's importance, scale, and complexity have grown substantially in recent years, but efforts to develop and manage the Department of Defense (DoD) security cooperation workforce have lagged behind. This study informs the development of career models for the security cooperation workforce by assessing requirements for security cooperation competencies and experience, identifying potential job families, and recommending measures to improve workforce management over the long term. The study identified 21 security cooperation competencies, including five core competencies that appear in most security cooperation jobs: security cooperation strategy, security cooperation analysis, cultural awareness/international affairs, security assistance case management, and global perspective. The study identified four potential job families within the security cooperation workforce: international affairs, security assistance implementation management, international training management, and financial management. The study team also explored the amount of experience that might be required of incumbents. It might be feasible to require several years of security cooperation experience for advancement to senior positions within the civilian workforce, but the analysis could not determine how much experience would be necessary. With regard to the military workforce, it would be feasible to require only limited amounts of prior security cooperation experience, and then only for senior positions. DoD should focus on improving the quality of management information describing the workforce, refine the proposed competency framework, and impose at most limited requirements for prior security cooperation experience until better data allow systematic correlation of prior experience and performance.