The professional development, he added, goes beyond the purely military to enhanced understanding of the American democratic system, culture and respect for human rights.
“I’ve gained better understanding, especially [through] the American Studies electives and Field Study Travels.”
The potential of IMET and the payoff from Department of State funding and the administrative efforts of DSCA’s Business Operations and Program Directorates becomes clearer when IMET graduates are prompted to share their experiences in the program.
We asked Acorda: When you return to your country, what will you tell your colleagues about your IMET experience? Do you think the education you are receiving in the U.S. will make you a more effective leader? His response was emphatic: “The IMET experience is awesome! A once-in-a-lifetime great experience. Yes, the education I am receiving will make me a more effective and strategic leader.”
Such testimony explains why IMET is an investment that the State Department continues to make and broaden. Though aimed squarely at military professionals, IMET is also furnished to civilians from ministries other than ministries of defense and non-governmental organizations in various instances.
Infantry Officer Basic Leaders Course students train for a dismounted patrol, Selby Combined Arms Collective Training Facility, Ga., Oct. 3, 2012. International soldiers are trained side by side with American soldiers in various courses. Pictured from right to left: Lt. Jamal Badr, Yemen Army; Lt. Kylis Ioannis, Hellenic Army; 2nd Lt. Jason Boatwright, U.S. Army; Capt. Abdoulie Mboob, Gambian National Army; 2nd Lt. Pablo Bonilla, U.S. Army; and Lt. Casey Adam, U.S. Army. U.S. Army photo by Patrick A. Albright
In such cases, the program is referred as Expanded IMET or E-IMET. One of the goals of E-IMET is to promote and reinforce the idea of civilian control of the military. Thus, civilian personnel are trained in managing and administering military establishments and budgets. Along with military professionals, (with whom they’ve often never been in the same forum) they learn to create and maintain effective military justice systems and military codes of conduct in accordance with internationally recognized standards of human rights.
The IMET program operates outside of the United States on a far more limited basis. When approved by a GCC and DSCA through a specific waiver, U.S. personnel may provide IMET education in another country. Mobile Training Teams (MTT) and Mobile Education Teams (MET) conduct IMET-funded classes abroad where thorough assessment has demonstrated that in-country training is the most effective option.
On occasion, the Defense Language Institute English Language Center may conduct in-country English language training if it is determined that an in-country ELT program should be developed or improved. IMET funding is available for the purchase and acquisition of ELT aids, particularly to be used for training of civilians to attend E-IMET programs.
Measuring the success of IMET will likely never be a perfect science, but DSCA is working on metrics to provide more detailed analysis of its benefits. Such benefits may not become obvious for years, and often they may be as powerfully manifest in what does not happen in various parts of the world as in what does.
DSCA periodically reviews all IMET activities to ensure course offerings are in line with U.S. policy direction. Judkins meets regularly with SCO officers and relevant GCC representatives to go over the training requirements they submit. The specific offerings must meet the criteria set forth by State and the GCC for the country in question. Representatives from the educational institutions attended by IMET students also review courses offered to make certain they meet requirements, particularly when they are E-IMET offerings.
The Philippines and the greater Pacific represent but one portion of the world, which sends its military professionals through IMET. The two most active regions from which students currently come are Europe and, increasingly, Africa. Combined, the two continents send students from 72 countries. The signal they send is that demand for, and desire to participate in, IMET is as high as ever.
But the program is not immune to the same budgetary pressures weighing on the Departments of Defense and State as well as the rest of the U.S. government. IMET funding has declined in recent years, but Judkins said it is expected to remain at approximately $105 million per year through FY 2016, slightly above the FY 2014 level.
Measuring the success of IMET will likely never be a perfect science, but DSCA is working on metrics to provide more detailed analysis of its benefits. Such benefits may not become obvious for years, and often they may be as powerfully manifest in what does not happen in various parts of the world as in what does.
For the foreseeable future DSCA will continue to manage and monitor strategic education programs like IMET, and Americans will decide if the payoff in multilateral cooperation and long-term mutual understanding is worth it. n