SCM-I-Finance/Logistics provides an overview of security cooperation (SC) programs followed by detailed instruction on financial and logistics management.

Objective

The overarching objective of DISCS’s international curriculum is to help our security assistance personnel manage and implement the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program in support of their nation’s defense.

SCM-I-Finance/Logistics is designed to meet the needs of senior and mid-level military and civilian officials responsible for the financial management and/or logistics management of FMS cases, including those funded by U.S. grants. This encompasses not only personnel in defense ministries, service headquarters, and procurement bureaus, but may also include international liaison personnel assigned to US organizations in CONUS, as well as defense attachés and foreign procurement officials assigned to Washington, DC.

A list of all DISCS courses available to international partners is at the DISCS Course Catalog.

Course Description

SCM-I-Finance/Logistics is divided into two parts.

1. The first part provides an overview of SC, addressing legislation, policy, and procedures; planning, programming, and budgeting; resource management; acquisition and sustainment; contract administration; technology transfer and export controls, all within the context of a security cooperation relationship with the U.S. This portion also looks at financial issues in detail, addressing funds management, pricing policies, and billing procedures.
2. The second component of the course focuses specifically on logistics management, addressing initial support, sustainment, transportation, requisitioning, and discrepancy reports.

Instruction is classroom based, with reading assignments and practical exercises reinforcing lectures. The curriculum also includes an extensive Field Studies Program (FSP) that introduces students to the American way of life, incorporating not only visits to local government, commercial, cultural, and educational entities but also to private homes as well.

All instruction is in English.

SCM-I-Finance/Logistics qualifies for expanded IMET (E-IMET).

Note that DISCS can also offer a comparable course in-country, less the FSP, via a Mobile Education Team (SCM-I-MET, MASL D305024).

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants should occupy (or should have been selected to occupy) security cooperation financial management and/or logistics management positions.

All DISCS international courses require an English Comprehension Level (ECL) test score of 80.

FOR US GOVERNMENT LES: Locally Engaged Staff (LES) working in Security Cooperation Organizations (SCOs) or political-military analysis offices in US embassies are NOT eligible to attend SCM-I-Finance/Logistics or any other course in DISCS’s international (SCM-I) curriculum.

LES should instead enroll in SCM-LO, which is designed specifically for that audience.

Security Clearance

None required.

Billeting and Transportation

• SCM-I-Finance/Logistics starts on a Monday.
• Students traveling by air should arrive at the Dayton International Airport prior to 2200 hrs on the Sunday immediately preceding the start of their course. DISCS will make our best effort to meet students at the airport upon their arrival. Accordingly, we request that SCOs and/or students provide the Registrar with arrival flight information at least two (2) weeks prior to the arrival date, either via the Security Assistance Network (SAN) or by e-mail or both.
• If we do not know when you are arriving, we cannot meet you at the airport.
• SCM-I-Finance/Logistics lasts three weeks, ending at noon on Friday of the third week. Due to airport security requirements, students should not schedule departure flights until after 1600 hrs on the last day of class. DISCS normally will not authorize early departures except for bona fide emergencies.
• DISCS will arrange for student lodging, normally at the local Visiting Officers Quarters (VOQ) known as the Wright-Patterson Inn. We will make reservations starting the Sunday prior to class start date. Reservations for rooms prior to Sunday are on a space-available basis only.
• DISCS recommends that students not bring family members, other dependents, or guests. The VOQ will not provide billeting facilities for them. Moreover, DISCS is not authorized to issue them the identification documents required for access to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB).
• Students choosing to stay in quarters other than those arranged for by DISCS, whether because they are accompanied by family members or for other reasons, must make their own arrangements, including transportation from the airport. Furthermore, DISCS will not provide statements of non-availability for quarters if rooms are available for students at the VOQ.
• DISCS provides free bus service between student quarters and the schoolhouse. Students choosing to live elsewhere must provide their own transportation to and from class.
• DISCS also provides a free shuttle service from student quarters to local eating establishments in the evenings and on weekends.

Food and Drink

• There are limited options for meals around the VOQ or around DISCS. However, VOQ rooms have microwave ovens, refrigerators, and other amenities, so students will have some capability to cook in their rooms.
• Many DISCS students find it most convenient to bring lunch to DISCS during the school week. DISCS’s student lounge has a galley with a refrigerator, a freezer, several coffee stations with hot water dispensers, and several microwave ovens.
• The shuttle service DISCS provides may take students to the WPAFB commissary or to supermarkets off-base to buy food.
• Students may want to bring cooking and eating utensils from home, though most find it more convenient to buy disposable utensils after they arrive.
• DISCS enforces a "covered mug" policy, that is, we do not allow open-top beverage cups anywhere in DISCS spaces, especially classrooms. DISCS will provide each international student with a free complimentary mug as a memento.