Pentagon to Place New Restrictions, Vetting on International Military Students
By Janita Kan
January 18, 2020 Updated: January 18, 2020
The Defense Department announced on Friday that it will put in place new policies and restrictions on foreign military students while enrolled in U.S.-based training programs following a tragic shooting at a naval base last month that left three people dead.
Director of Defense Intelligence Garry Reid said in a statement that in response to the Dec. 6 attack at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida, the Pentagon will restrict students’ possession and use of firearms, implement control measures for limiting their access to military installations and U.S. government facilities, and impose standards for training on detecting and reporting insider threats.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/pentagon-to-place-new-restrictions-vetting-on-international-military-students_3208290.html
I remember training with a variety of FMO's ("Foreign Military Officers") while at the Basic School in Quantico. I recall one El Salvadoran officer who had some combat experience and was really good despite poor English. Also had a Thai Marine who barely spoke English and seemed mostly confused. When I later returned to TBS as a Tactics Instructor, there were some Saudis, and they were the worst. Seemed to think they were privileged, and that getting sweaty and dirty was beneath them. I remember once there were three of them who refused to run the obstacle course. "We are tired, we will sit." We ended up contacting some Saudi colonel who came down from their embassy to read them the riot act...or so I heard anyway.
Anyway, as bad as what those Saudis just did really was, FMO-type programs are really valuable. They've built some pretty strong relationships between some foreign militaries and the U.S.. Egypt in particular has a fair number of officers who have trained here, and they are generally those who are the least tolerant of Islamic Jihad and similar groups. So it a tightrope, but we need to keep walking it.
