A Foreign Area Officer (FAO) in the U.S. military is a commissioned officer who specializes in regional expertise, political-military affairs,and cross-cultural communication. FAOs are selected from all branches of the armed forces and undergo extensive training, including graduate-level education, foreign language acquisition, and immersive in-region experience. This preparation enables themto serve effectively as military attachés, security cooperation officers, and political-military planners. Their primary responsibilities include advising senior leaders on foreign relations, facilitating security cooperation programs, and representing U.S. military interests abroad. FAOs play a crucial role in building and maintaining relationships with foreign military and government officials, enhancing the U.S. military’s understanding of regional dynamics, and supporting national security objectives.

The training pipeline for a FAO typically spans three to four years. It includes the Joint Foreign Area Officer Course (JFAOC), language training at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) in Monterey, California or Washington, D.C., graduate studies in National Security and Foreign Affairs at the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey, California, and a year of in-country immersion within their assigned region. This comprehensive training ensures that FAOs are not only linguistically proficient but also culturally and politically astute, making them invaluable assets in global military operations and diplomacy.