scope:

Purpose a. To publish policies, procedures, roles, and responsibilities for sustaining a permanent and robust foreign area officer (FAO) community.

b. This is the first major revision of this instruction since the community establishment in 2006, and should be reviewed in its entirety. Major changes to this instruction are summarized in subparagraphs 1b(1) through 1b(7).

(1) Adoption of new maritime strategy as published by reference (a).

(2) Establishment of Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans and Strategy (CNO N3/N5) as FAO enterprise lead.

(3) Maturation of the FAO qualification procedures and career path, and the establishment of additional qualification designator (AQD) codes to track qualification and career progression.

(4) Per reference (b), implementation of an "Aviation Qualified FAO" AQD to leverage the unique skills of former aviators currently designated as FAOs in attaché billets requiring operational flying duties.

(5) Establishment of Reserve Component (RC) FAO community in August 2015, per reference (c).

(6) Migration of FAO community manager responsibilities from Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV), Director, Military Personnel Plans and Policy (OPNAV N13), to Bureau of Naval Personnel, Officer Community Manager (BUPERS-31).

(7) Establishment of United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) as a fifth geographic region of specialization.