Meeting customer requirements: DISAM offers tailored on-sites and Mobile Education Teams.

DISAM has long provided tailored instruction to domestic and international customers in a variety of security assistance subjects. As the international customer base continues to expand, we have found the levels of experience and the needs of our customers vary. The same applies to the domestic security assistance management organizations which continue to experience high personnel turnover. While we continue to have resident courses with a standardized curriculum that cover a broad range of experience levels, DISAM can also provide specialized instruction appealing to the very basic needs or to the very experienced, in the form of an on-site to the domestic customer or a MOBILE EDUCATION TEAM (MET) to the international customer.

For example, a 3-day Industry on-site may focus primarily on legislation, technology transfer and export controls, licensing requirements, the foreign military sales (FMS) process and the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), and Department of Defense acquisition policies. Whereas, a 3-day on-site for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) might focus on the FMS process, pricing, billing, funds management and case reconciliation. And a 3-day onsite for the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) could emphasize the legislation, FMS process, acquisition and logistics. The bottom line is that DISAM can deliver tailored instruction to meet the customers' specific needs. This is the theme of this year's annual curriculum review: Meeting Customer Requirements. The key is for the customer to identify what those needs are, and a little advanced planning.

Often we are asked to export an entire specialized course to an on-site location. DISAM offers several courses that we can take on the road. These include the Case Reconciliation course (SAM-CR), the FMS Contract Management course (SAM-CT) and the Logistics/Customer Support course (SAM-CS), all of which are offered as 4-day on-sites. Unfortunately, not all our courses travel. Often this is because the course involves numerous guest speakers or computer labs or seminars that simply can not be packed up and moved. But selected elements of those specialized courses can be conducted on-site. DISAM offers a case management course (SAM-CM) and a financial management course (SAM-CF) for domestic customers in residence only. But domestic customers wanting case management or financial management emphasis can request a 3-day on-site in which many of the elements of the CM or CF course will be presented.

DISAM also offers four courses as exportable Mobile Education Teams (MET) to international customers. These are the two-week Foreign Purchaser course (SAM-F), the five-day Planning and Resource Management course (SAM-P), the three-day International Training Management course (SAM-IT), and the five-day Logistics/Customer Support course (SAM-CS). While all the DISAM METs are tailored to the customer's requirements, the SAM-CS course is particularly noteworthy.

Meeting International Customers' Logistics Needs

Four years ago DISAM introduced the Logistics/Customer Support Course (SAM-CS) to the security assistance community. The course is designed for all personnel supporting FMS logistics, to include Department of Defense personnel, contractors, freight forwarders and customer foreign liaison officers. The course focuses on reducing frustrated and misdirected shipments, reducing supply discrepancies and improving case reconciliation. Since its inception in 1998, the course has been well attended by both domestic and international customers, and it has been presented three times by Mobile Education Teams to international customers: Twice to Israel in New York City in 2000, and once in Warsaw, Poland in 2001. Additionally, DISAM has been approached to present the course to other countries. The standard resident course assumes that the international customer has a basic military logistics infrastructure in place upon which to apply this knowledge. Therein lies the problem.

Many of our newer international customers are just beginning to establish their security assistance program. Some have not yet established a single follow-on support case. Others have established cases, but are still so unfamiliar with the Department of Defense logistics system that they cannot make use of the numerous documents generated by the ILCOs and the Defense Automated Addressing System Center (DAASC), the organization that processes supply status reports. Some international customers have requested assistance from their supporting security assistance officer (SAO) or Defense Attache (DAO). Too often these well-meaning civilian or military professionals little experience with these logistics and financial documents. When the SAO is not knowledgeable enough to provide such assistance, it is time to consider a Logistics/Customer Support Course (SAM-CS) Mobile Education Team (MET).

DISAM can help. In keeping with our effort to provide tailored instruction to the customer, we are able to modify the SAM-CS course to apply to those international customers who are still defining their logistics needs. This modified five-day course emphasizes more the FMS process, the fundamental Department of Defense logistics structure, the Department of Defense provisioning process, interpreting the logistics reports and status documents sent to the customer, acquiring and interpreting catalog data, publications support, maintenance support, acquiring non-standard items and basic military standard requisitioning and issue procedures. Although this modified SAM-CS course also covers the acquisition process, transportation, freight forwarding and discrepancy reporting, these areas are less emphasized because the customer is less concerned with them at this stage. A typical 5-day international SAM-CS logistics primer might look like this:

Day 1

* Intro to security assistance programs

* FMS process: The preliminary, definition, and request phases. Emphasis on development of the Letter of Request

* FMS process: The offer, acceptance and case implementation

* Types of EMS cases

Day 2

* Provisioning

* Forecasting equipment failures and parts usage

* Maintenance support

* Acquisition basics

* Publications

** How to establish publications cases for standard and nonstandard publications

** The differences between standard publications and technical manuals/technical directives/technical orders

Day 3

* ILCS/STARR-PC

** What ILOS is and how to get it

** What STARR-PC is and how to get it

** Role of the ILCO 

* Role of the ICP/Item manager

* Catalogs and DLIS products

** How to get them, and how to use them

** How to read catalog data

** NSN/part cross-referencing

** Interchangeability/Substitutability

Day 4

* Requisition processing

* Setting up a logistics tracking system

** Open requisitions

** Follow-ups

** Cancellations

** Completed orders

* Reports from the ILCO and DAASC

** Quarterly requisition report

** Cancellation report

** Monthly open/completed report

** Blanket order reconciliation/validation

** DAASC logistics transaction report

Day 5

* Transportation

** Using the defense transportation system

** Freight forwarders

** Frustrated cargo resolution

* Reconciling the DD645, billing statement and the delivery listing

* Supply discrepancies

This modified Logistics/Customer Support course intends to help the customer establish basic logistics management procedures to make the best use of the Department of Defense logistics system and the FMS program. For more information about the SAM-CS course, e-mail myself at [e-mail] or phone at commercial [phone] or DSN 785-8192.

Scheduling an On-site or MET

The DISAM curriculum allows small teams of instructors to conduct on-site courses and overseas METs throughout the year while the resident courses are in session in Dayton. These on-site travel periods are built into the DISAM schedule, and customers are plugged into those available dates on a first-come, first-served basis. All customers must identify their specific instruction needs so that the DISAM subject matter experts can be scheduled to conduct the training and pull together the necessary resources to provide tailored instruction. All this takes time and planning. Domestic customers should identify their instructional requirements at least six months prior to the training dates, and international customers should get on the DISAM calendar at least one year in advance of the requested dates. Domestic on-site customers should contact Gary Geilenfeldt, e-mail [e-mail] at [phone] or DSN 785-8196 to schedule an on-site course.

Any MET to an international customer must be coordinated through the SAO or U.S. military representative at the embassy. Because of the long lead time needed to prepare for such a tailored MET, DISAM recommends the SAO consider programming the MET into the country's long-range training schedule and establish the Letter of Request at least a year in advance. International customers or SAOs should contact Bob Hanseman e-mail, [e-mail] at [phone] or DSN 785-5851 to schedule a MET. International customers must establish a training case with the Air Force Security Assistance Training group before a MET can be locked in.

About the Author

Joanne B. Hawkins is an Associate Professor and has been teaching at the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management since 1992. She is a retired Army logistician. She is the coordinator for logistics instruction at DISAM and the course director of the Logistics/Customer Support Course (SAM-CS). She also instructs in international programs security, EMS process, finance, legislation and foreign policy.