The Mari ne Attacheby LtCol Scott D. McDonald

fter completing rwo attachd-type tours, many colleagueshave asked me to commenrin this forum on what I have

learned. This past fall I had the pleasureof attending the Security CooperationPlanners' Course presented by SecurityCooperation Education and TrainingCenter (now part of the Marine CorpsSecurity Cooperation Group). Duringthis course much is said about the Em-bassy country team, and the military'srole within it, in supporting securitycooperation. This discussion focuseson the important role of the senior de-fense official/defense attachd, the role heplays in foreign military sales, and otherformal securiry cooperation programs.However, aside from passing mentionsof the role of the attachd, there seemedto be little understanding among thestaff or my fellow students of the roleofMarine attachds in general, howtheyassist securiry cooperation specificallyand, more importantly, their utiliry tothe Marine Corps.

Unfortunately, this was not whollysurprising. In fact, as a serving Marineattachd it was I who had ro reach outto the Marine Corps, establishinglink-ages with communities of interest andseeking out opportunities to be taskedwith Marine Corps-specific duties. Thisis, in part, because the Marine Corpshas largely accepted the position thatits attachds do not work for the Ma-rine Corps. This perception is incorrect.Marine attachds are an important partof the Marine Corps security coopira-tion architecture and need to be betterleveraged by the Marine Corps if weare to make the most of our partnerrelationships around the world.

Command and Control BackgroundOne of the reasons that seiving as

a Marine attachd is an interesting, re-warding, and challenging assignment is

Marine Corps Gazette. August 2012

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the fact that you work for several mas-ters.'S7.hile fulfilling arange of duties,one reports in turn to the Ambassador,the geographic component commander,the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff, the Commandant of the MarineCorps, and the Director, Defense Intel-ligence Agency.

The Director, Defense IntelligenceAgency, pays most ofthe bills for the at-tachd program and, as such, has primarytasking authority. The reality, however,is much more nuanced and complex. Tobegin with, nothing the attachd doestakes place in isolation. Interests thatspan the range ofthe U.S. foreign policycommunity are addressed in the sameday and often during the same meet-

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ings. As the official representative ofthe U.S. Marine Corps in the countryto which accredited, each "boss" listedabove has a legitimate interest in theMarine attachdt activities and a claimon his time. In fact, in many ways theattachd's role in the Embassv enableshim to help coordinate the interests ofthese disparate actors, bring their ob-jectives into the interagency ream, andexecute their programs effectively.

As an attachd I actually appreciatedthe input I received from eaili oftheseactors as it helped me to understandU.S. interests in the area in which Iwas serving and highlighted the areasin which the U.S. foreign policy com-munity did not understand what I was

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Marine attach€s can assist in huilding partner relationships around the world. (photo hy tsLtMark Lazane.)

www.mca-mari nes.org/gazette 43

responsible for teaching them. Thoughnot the purpose of thiJarticle, I mailn-tain that the primary role of an attachd,and one that combines the goals of allofhis bosses, is as an educatoi-educat-ing the host government about the U.S.military and U.S. interests, as well aseducating the U.S. Government aboutthe interests and military of the countryin which he serves.

The Corps'EquityConsidering all the Marine attachd

can do and does for actors across theU.S. Government, it is unfortunatethat the one boss who seems most hesi-tant to task its attachds is the MarineCorps. Based on my interaction withmany senior Marine leaders, I think thatthis hesitancy to reach out to atrachdscomes from a misunderstanding of the

of Marine Corps concepts into the in-tellectual lexicon of the host military.This enables him to bring value to ailof his bosses, nor jusr to the MarineCorps. Attachd offices are by their verynature joint. They are so small relativeto the tasks tbey are responsible for ex-ecuting and rely on each other for somuch that leveraging joint capabilitiesbecomes second nature. In that, theydraw on Service backgrounds to explainthe U.S. military position and outlook.Additionally, our foreign parrners wantto hear varied Service perspectives, andthey generally have a heightened interestin hearing from the Marine Corps.

Howeve! the Marine Corps has lim-ited manpower and cannot put attachdseverywhere. Currently, there are lessthan 40 Marine attachds worldwide.Consequently, the Corps attempts to

ment. The Marine amachi is especiallysuircd fqs this role buuse of the Corpi'proficiency in inregraring fires acrossthe geographis demains, as well as thereputation it has built for respondingrapidly to disasrers around ttie world.As a resuh, the Marine amachd buildshundreds of relationships in his coun-try of accreditation rtrat can assist theU.S. Marine Corps in improving itsown training, securiry cooperation,and partner relationships-

TaskMe\ffuh all that Marine arachds can

add to the Marine Corps'worldwidemission, it is a sherne 1[ar the MarineCorps does not do a bemer job of le-veraging them- Marine leaders, fromCommandant to geographical Servicecomponent $affi and everyone in be-tween, should noc rhink rwice beforereaching out to their amachis.

'We exist

to supPortyu[ pmgrams, andpolicies. Tell us whar you want to do,ask us our opinion of your initiatives,and tell us what you do not knotrfi,orare trying to understand about our hostcountrF. That is rvhy we sYisr.

Do not worry abqr whether we haveother tasks or noL V'e are used to thedeluge, but are happyro q>end our timeand effort on issues.hrtwe know mat-ter to someone backhome. And in theend, the ggal is a better U-S. foreignpolicy and the prfiErion of U.S. i-n-terests. $7'orking Marine Corps-specifi cissues helps thar Furthermo.e, ln rheEmbassy environment, therg is rarelyan issue, oncewE areaware of it, that isnot important to several of our bossesand partners-bo& in the host countryand the interagency-

So let me wo* for you. It will helpme do my job byhelpitrgme ,rnderrtaniwhat people need ro know, and help youdo yours byexercisingthe tool that'theMarine Corps has spent time, money,

1nd_ personnel cosrs purring in plac!.Taskme...please.

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Marine leaders, from Commandant to geographieatSeruice component staffs and everyone in hetween,should not think twice before reaching out to their at-tachds.

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attachdt role. I have lost count of thenumber of senior Marine leaders whopractically began their firsr conversa-tion with me by saying, "I know youdo not work for -..'t Tli.y thought ihatbecause someone else pays rhe bills theycould not or should not task me. Theyhave been led to believe that while onthis "external" billet, the Marine Corpsdoes not get a say in how I am employed.The truth, which I was always qli.k toexplain, is that a Marine attachd is con-stantly working for the Marine Corps.He is the public face of the MarineCorps overseas, he speaks in the nameofthe Commandant, he implements theCommandant's guidance in his discus-sions with foreign partners, and he is theme.dium. through which most foreignmilitary leaders communicate with tleCommandant.

In fact, on a daily basis the atrachdbrings the most value to the U.S. Gov-ernment in his role as an educator inMarine Corps 101 and as a translator

place Marine attachds in countries thathave significant Marine Corps equities.This makes it even hardef to under-stand why we do not leverage theseassets more. In fact, a Marine attachdserving in his accredited country cannoropen_his mouth without conductingsecurity cooperation. Every interactionhe has with the host nation-which isnear constant-is conveying a messageregarding not only the U.S. interest inand commitment to the host nation,but those of the Marine Corps as well.He should not be doing thii withoutdirect input from the Mirine Corps hers rePresentlng.

As the Commandantt representative,the Marine attachd also has remark-able access to the host-nation militaryand government. \While other officeioften have good access in niche areas,because ofthe role ofan attachd as theofficial representarive ofhis military, hetends to be welcomed across the militaryand even in other parts ofthe govern-

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