Special operations forces: training with friendly foreign forces
(a)
Authority To Pay Training Expenses .—
section 167 of this titleUnder regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (c), the commander of the special operations command established pursuant to and the commander of any other unified or specified combatant command may pay, or authorize payment for, any of the following expenses:
(1)
Expenses of training special operations forces assigned to that command in conjunction with training, and training with, armed forces and other security forces of a friendly foreign country.
(2)
Expenses of deploying such special operations forces for that training.
(3)
In the case of training in conjunction with a friendly developing country, the incremental expenses incurred by that country as the direct result of such training.
(b)
Purpose of Training .—
The primary purpose of the training for which payment may be made under subsection (a) shall be to train the special operations forces of the combatant command.
(c)
Regulations .—
The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section. The regulations shall require that training activities may be carried out under this section only with the prior approval of the Secretary of Defense. The regulations shall establish accounting procedures to ensure that the expenditures pursuant to this section are appropriate.
(d)
Definitions .—
In this section:
(1)
The term “special operations forces” includes civil affairs forces and military information support operations forces.
(2)
The term “incremental expenses”, with respect to a developing country, means the reasonable and proper cost of rations, fuel, training ammunition, transportation, and other goods and services consumed by such country, except that the term does not include pay, allowances, and other normal costs of such country’s personnel.
(e)
Reports .—
Not later than April 1 of each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report regarding training during the preceding fiscal year for which expenses were paid under this section. Each report shall specify the following:
(1)
All countries in which that training was conducted.
(2)
The type of training conducted, including whether such training was related to counter-narcotics or counter-terrorism activities, the duration of that training, the number of members of the armed forces involved, and expenses paid.
(3)
The extent of participation by foreign military forces, including the number and service affiliation of foreign military personnel involved and physical and financial contribution of each host nation to the training effort.
(4)
The relationship of that training to other overseas training programs conducted by the armed forces, such as military exercise programs sponsored by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, military exercise programs sponsored by a combatant command, and military training activities sponsored by a military department (including deployments for training, short duration exercises, and other similar unit training events).
(5)
A summary of the expenditures under this section resulting from the training for which expenses were paid under this section.
(6)
A discussion of the unique military training benefit to United States special operations forces derived from the training activities for which expenses were paid under this section.
Pub. L. 112–812011—Subsec. (d)(1). substituted “military information support operations” for “psychological operations”.
Pub. L. 105–261, § 1062(a)1998—Subsec. (c). , inserted after first sentence “The regulations shall require that training activities may be carried out under this section only with the prior approval of the Secretary of Defense.”