About Us – Office of Security Assistance

The Office of Security Assistance (SA) has three core functions: (1) managing State Department Title 22 military grant assistance – to include directing over $6.5 billion annually in U.S. military grant assistance to allies and partners through policy development, budget formulation, and program oversight; (2) managing concurrence/coordination on various Department of Defense (DoD) Title 10 authorities; and (3) participating in, and coordinating State Department input into, DoD planning efforts. PM/SA is comprised of three regionally-aligned Security Assistance Teams and the Defense Sector Plans Team. The Security Assistance Teams develop and manage military grant assistance policy and funding for three programs – Foreign Military Financing (FMF), International Military Education and Training (IMET), and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) – in cooperation with the regional bureaus and DoD, and facilitate coordination, concurrence, and clearance on key Title 10 security sector assistance authorities on behalf of the Department. The Defense Sector Plans Team strengthens and institutionalizes planning, posture, and policy coordination within State Department and between the Departments of State and Defense to generate unity of effort, relying on a variety of mechanisms including engagements with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, and Combatant Commands; participating in DoD synchronization fora; and organizing plans and issue-centric engagements between State and DoD audiences to inform global and regional political-military plans and guidance.

Director: Greg Hermsmeyer
Deputy Director: Merrie Archer
Office contact number: 202-663-3040