Blog Posts from June, 2009

I can’t tell you how pleased I am with the success of our 2009 State Partnership Program Conference. I heard nothing but great feedback about the conference from General McKinley and the Adjutants General who attended. While we have lots of work to do on the conference deliverables, I tip my hat to everyone who made the conference a success. It truly exceeded expectations.

After the TAGs left, I had a chance to spend some quality time with our Bilateral Affairs Officers on the last day of the conference. I wanted to tell them how important they are to EUCOM and how much we appreciate what they do. I also wanted to talk to them about some of the things we’re trying to do to improve their quality of life, the training we provide for them and thoughts on career development. But just as important, I wanted to listen to them and better understand their concerns and issues.

The BAOs are the center of gravity for the State Partnership Program. They live and work in the partner country and plan the program’s engagement activities. They develop critical relationships with partner military officers and develop key insights into partner requirements and capabilities. In many ways, I told them, they determine the success or failure of our partner engagements. The State Partnership Program is a vital capacity building program and the BAOs are absolutely critical to its success. I think everyone understands the value of both the program and the BAOs

But, as they well know, we’re not putting our money where our mouth is. We say the BAO is vital, yet funding is completely ad hoc. We haven’t made the positions documented, fully funded positions. Our current model undermines they key relationships they need to develop and severely limits the officers who can take the risk of such an ad hoc program.

As I explained to them, we need to make the BAOs a funded program of record that provides for three-year, accompanied tours in the partner country. I outlined our plan to request this program.

As I listened to the BAOs, I was amazed at their attitudes. Their issues weren’t about poor housing, pay problems or other personal problems. Their concerns were about how the lack of computer communications such as reliable email hurts their ability to plan and to coordinate. They were about short tours hurt their ability to develop the strong relationships we need with our partners. And perhaps most significantly, about how we often lose their hard won expertise when they finish a BAO assignment. They want to ensure their experiences are captured and passed on. And they want to have the chance to serve in other related assignments where they can use their experience.

Our BAOs are a dynamite group. They make things happen on a shoestring. Just think what they can do when we give them the support they need.

BG Jeffrey Marshall
Director, EUCOM Directorate of Mobilization and Reserve Affairs