An unqualified training success story! The Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management sends a mobile education team to Egypt

DISAM Journal, Spring, 2003 by Forrest Smith

Our Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management (DISAM) Mobile Education Teams (MET) have traveled to Egypt in 1991, 1998, and 2001. After the 2001 classes, the Egyptian Armaments Authority (EAA) requested annual METs. The first "annual" MET was held in February-March 2002. To meet the EAA request for the 2003 class, DISAM sent a MET to Egypt in January-February 2003 to provide both a Foreign Purchaser Course (SAM-F) and a Foreign Executive Seminar (SAM-FE). This year's DISAM team consisted of Mr. Greg Sutton (Team Chief), Lieutenant Colonel Bill Rimpo, USAF, Major Bob Holzhauer, USA, and, for the second year in a row, Mr. Ed Smith.

Once again both courses were conducted at the Egyptian Armaments Authority Headquarters m Cairo, Egypt. Although the courses were primarily for Egyptian Armaments Authority officers involved in foreign military sales (FMS) programs, key officers from other Army, Air Force and Navy units involved in FMS also attended the courses.

The Egyptian Armaments Authority had originally planned for forty students for the SAM-F class and twenty students for the SAM-FE class. On opening day the classrooms were packed! The final student tally for the Foreign Purchaser Course was forty-six students, and for the Foreign Executive Seminar, there were twenty-one students. Students in the SAM-F ranged in grade from First Lieutenant to Major General, while the SAM-F consisted of Lieutenant Colonel to Lieutenant General (Retired).

Brigadier General Abdel Mohsen Shabrawy, Deputy Chief, Procurement Branch, Egyptian Armaments Authority, opened the courses by stressing the continued importance of FMS to the Egyptian military and the need for continued cooperation between the U.S. and Egyptian military forces. He requested the students study hard and ask lots of questions and they did both.

Of special note, the classrooms had been updated since our last visit. The Executive Conference Room where the SAM-FE was held, boasted a completely new projector, white board and software. Four additional video screens were added in the main auditorium. This allowed students in the rear to see the presentations more clearly. All the new equipment is controlled from a central control room which was continually manned by computer specialists.

Although an examination is optional for METs, the Foreign Purchaser Course students were required by Egyptian Armaments Authority to take and pass a final course exam. The examination we administered was based on the same examination that is given to our continental United States students in the SAM-C course. All the students passed with high marks, a great ending to another successful MET.

Major General Mahfouz El Bassyouni, Assistant Chief, Armaments Authority, presided over the closing ceremonies, along with Major General Khaled Metwaly, Chief, Procurement Branch, Armaments Authority and Brigadier General Abdel Mohsen Shabrawy, Deputy Chief, Procurement Branch, Armaments Authority. In his graduation remarks, Major General Bassyouni noted that this was the largest class ever and congratulated all the students on their accomplishments. He then awarded the students their graduation certificates. Major General Metwaly, Colonel Mohammed Ibrahim Ali Abdalla and the entire administrative staff of the Armaments Authority pulled out all the stops to insure that the DISAM team was supported during the entire visit.

In preparation for the team's arrival, Lieutenant Colonel Garret Grimm (USA) and Major Sean Mahan (USAF), from the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC) Training Division (Cairo), worked with DISAM and Egyptian Armaments Authority, collecting and delivering the training materials and coordinating the training facilities and arranging billeting and daily transportation. Special thanks to Major Mahan for developing and presenting a lesson on OMG Cairo's role and responsibilities to both classes and participating in the closing ceremonies. As always, the DISAM team appreciated the OMG support for this annual event.

The Egyptian Armaments Authority was enthusiastic with the response from the students. This was the largest class in the history of the program. Student feedback once again indicated that our courses exceeded the educational objective of providing students with a through overview of the security assistance program.

Brigadier General Mohsen, in his role as training coordinator, once again requested DISAM continue to schedule annual METs. The OMC Cairo has already received a formal request from Egyptian Armaments Authority for another MET in fiscal year 2004. DISAM looks forward to fulfilling the requirement, especially since January in Egypt is always a great respite from the winter in Dayton, Ohio.

About the Author

Ed Smith has an extensive background in security assistance programs and training. He is currently an Associate Professor of Security Assistance Management at DISAM as well as the CONUS Course Manager and USAF Seminar Lead. Ed has held positions as a Logistics Analyst for DSAMS Training and Field Support, Chief, Arabian Programs Branch, Air Force Security Assistance Center (AFSAC), Chief, Cost Sharing Branch, ACofS (J-4), Yongsan, Korea, Air Force Logistics Command Security Assistance Program Liaison Officer to PACOM, and Security Assistance Program Manager, International Logistics Center (ILC). He was awarded a Master of Science/Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Business Administration/Business and Finance from the University of Massachusetts.