Air Force
Foreign Military Sales Country Director (Air Force)
SAF/IA Country Director
The Air Force Secretariat's policy-level voice on a specific country's cases and the action addressee for its Letters of Request for major systems — shapes release positions, coordinates with and .
What They Do
The Air Force's headquarters office for international affairs
The office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Deputy Under Secretary for International Affairs () develops, implements, and oversees / activities assigned to the U.S. Air Force by . It is the office of primary responsibility for the central management, direction, guidance, and supervision of the Air Force portion of / programs for foreign nations and international activities. The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (SAF/AQ), by having responsibility for Air Force acquisition, has a coordinating role in the development of for major acquisition cases and an oversight role in their execution.
Receiving the Letter of Request
The Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs () is the Air Force headquarters element for . In addition to headquarters functions performed by Army and , also has extensive political and military responsibilities. receives for major system programs but generally tasks the Air Force and Cooperation (AFSAC) Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to prepare the case. AFSAC is also the Air Force in that it receives and writes, signs, and manages cases for follow-on support.
The must process the so case development can begin. The individual responsible for doing this is generally found at the headquarters element of the ’s organization. This person may be referred to as the country director, country program director (CPD), country program manager (), command country manager (), or country desk officer. Normally, the country director will process all the receives for a given country or region. However, for large and complex programs, there may be more than one country director assigned.
Handing the case to AFSAC and the program office
For follow-on support that will be provided from Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) assets, the Air Force and Cooperation (AFSAC) Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, prepares, processes, and oversees the performance of the applicable cases. AFSAC has also assumed from the writing of system sales cases.
Air Force directs the management of its business on a line-by-line basis. or AFSAC, as applicable, assigns line management responsibility to the major command having cognizance over the article or service being provided and a Program Manager () to oversee the development and execution of major system acquisition .
Active Pipeline Stages
Where this role is most involved across the FMS pipeline:
Who They Work With
The most frequent counterparts across an FMS case:
Cross-Service Terminology
The Army's headquarters counterpart is the DASA(DE&C) Regional Desk Officer, though that office receives Letters of Request for information only. The Navy's counterpart is the Country Director. The Country Director is a Secretariat-level role, distinct from the Command Country Manager at AFSAC.
References
SAMM
- SAMM C1.3.2.6.1.3.2 — Roles.
- SAMM C1.3.2.6.1.3.1 — Authorities.
- SAMM C1.3.2.6.1.3.3.1
- SAMM C5.T3A — Military Department Organizations Authorized to Receive Letters of Request
Public authorities
- Air Force Policy Directive 16-1, International Affairs — AFPD 16-1
FMS — Foreign Military Sale
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
SAF/IA — Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force International Affairs
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
Security Assistance (SA)
A group of programs authorized by federal statutes by which the United States provides defense articles, military training, and other defense-related services by grant, lease, loan, credit, or cash sales in furtherance of national policies and objectives, and those that are funded and authorized through the Department of State to be administered by Department of Defense/Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which are considered part of security cooperation.
SAMM Glossary, as of 12 September 2026
Security Cooperation
Activities undertaken by the DoD to encourage and enable international partners to work with the United States to achieve strategic objectives. It includes all DoD interactions with foreign defense and security establishments, including all DoD-administered security assistance programs, that: build defense and security relationships that promote specific U.S. security interests, including all international armaments cooperation activities and security assistance activities; develop allied and friendly military capabilities for self-defense and multinational operations; and provide U.S. forces with peacetime and contingency access to host nations.
SAMM Glossary, as of 12 September 2026
LOA — Letter of Offer and Acceptance
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
Security Cooperation Programs
Any program, activity (including an exercise), or interaction of the Department of Defense with the security establishment of a partner or international organization to achieve a purpose as follows:
To build and develop allied and friendly security capabilities for self-defense and multinational operations.
To provide the armed forces with access to the partner or international organization during peacetime or a contingency operation.
To build relationships that promote specific United States security interests.
SAMM Glossary, as of 12 September 2026
AECA — Arms Export Control Act
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
DASA DE&C — Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
LOR — Letter of Request
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
ILCO — International Logistics Control Office
SAMM Acronyms, as of 12 September 2026
Glossary entry →International Logistics Control Office (ILCO) →
Implementing Agency (IA)
The military department or defense agency responsible for the execution of military assistance programs. With respect to FMS, the military department or defense agency assigned responsibility by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency to prepare an LOA and to implement an FMS case. The implementing agency is responsible for the overall management of the actions that will result in delivery of the materials or services set forth in the LOA that was accepted by a foreign country or international organization.
SAMM Glossary, as of 12 September 2026
CCM — Command Country Manager
Professional Military Education (PME)
Career training designed to provide or enhance leadership and the recipient force's capabilities to conduct military planning, programming, management, budgeting, and force development to the level of sophistication appropriate to that force.
SAMM Glossary, as of 12 September 2026