Merge DOD Organizations in U.S. Embassies
By Captain Paul Bruno, U.S. Navy (Retired) and Captain Glenn Rosen, U.S. Navy
Primarily three Department of Defense organizations operate within many embassies: Defense Attaché Office (DAO), Security Cooperation Office (SCO), and Force Protection Detachment (FPD). Combining these would incorporate four of the nine principles of war: unity of command, simplicity, economy of force, and objective. Creating the Senior Defense Official/Defense Attaché was a step in the right direction, but significantly more would be gained by this proposed unification, improving DOD’s overall military-to-military engagement strategy with a host nation, while also reducing costs.
