Paper - Aviation Security Cooperation

The U.S. Air Force, over the past decade, has engaged in assisting the Iraqi Air Force and Afghan Air Force in rebuilding from scratch. Over the course of the last ten years (and more) the U.S. Air Force has had to revamp its air advisor and training programs to meet this challenge. Over the years the U.S. Air Force advisory effort has had some mixed results but seems to be on track now. However, it appears that the Air Force may be ditching the ability to execute 'Security Cooperation' (SC) in order to find money to fund big ticket programs like the J-35.

A recently published paper argues that ". . . it is in the Air Force's interests to OT&E an effective standing operational SC Capability in the GPF". Doing so would help the service realize its vision of global vigilance, global reach, and global power; help deal with the challenges of highly contested environments; and provide a low-cost way to support US strategic interests and the nation's emphasis on shaping the strategic environment to prevent or deter conflict". The paper then states that the requirements for attaining such a standing SC capability is an investment of dozens of billets and tens of millions of dollars annually in the short term.

Read the paper entitled "Aviation Security Cooperation", Air & Space Power Journal, September-October 2014, pages 92-117.
http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA610320