Defense Security Cooperation University Expert Course of Instruction: Content, Design, Implementation

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marquis, Jefferson P.

Contributor:

Dickerson, Reid

Herman, Rebecca

Moore, Pauline

Moroney, Jennifer D. P.

Welch, Jonathan

Language:

English

Other Title:

Defense Security Cooperation University Expert Course of Instruction

Place of Publication:

Santa Monica, Calif. RAND Corporation 2020

Summary:

In the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, the U.S. Congress called for the professionalization of the security cooperation (SC) workforce and placed the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in charge of this effort. Accordingly, in January 2020, DSCA established an SC Workforce Certification Program (SCWCP) with four proficiency levels that reflect increasing responsibility and greater knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA). Asked to help develop training course requirements for expert professionals that would capture what they need to know regarding the integration of SC into the national security framework, RAND researchers set out to identify training requirements for SC experts and best practices in senior leader education and training outside the Department of Defense. The ultimate goal of the professionalization process should be a "T-shaped" leader with both depth and breadth in terms of training and experience. The researchers also found that developing an effective and implementable course of instruction (COI) for SC experts depends on balancing requirements for deep and broad knowledge, on the one hand, and desired course content and practical considerations, on the other hand. To this end, the researchers propose an SC expert COI that takes into account not only course objectives and associated design elements but also duration and cost considerations and DSCA priorities and constraints.