Mentoring a Foreign Area Officer (FAO) involves supporting their development of regional expertise, foreign language skills, and political-military acumen through various avenues, including formal programs, professional organizations, and informal guidance and mentorship. Mentors can help FAOs with their specific region, language, and career development, while also fostering a sense of community and shared knowledge within the FAO profession. Mentoring goes both ways between the mentee and the mentor, covering three main areas: Information, Coaching, and Mentorship. The Army FAO Association is pleased to offer its members mentorship opportunities in these three areas. An Army FAO can choose to participate in all three areas or select one or two of their choice. The association believes that not all mentoring models are suitable for every person; therefore, we have provided a gradual roadmap for each FAO to navigate their path based on their individual needs. Please see each category below for more information on the AFAOA mentorship program.
Please register as a Mentor or a Mentee here:
Mentor Mentee
Mentors provide mentees first with information they may be lacking in their field of expertise. Below are some items the association has consolidated for new FAOs to read through and digest as they begin their new journey. The information part of mentorship requires the mentee to puruse through the below information to ensure the mentee is broadly informed about the profession they have chosen to pursue.
Check out the AFAOA reading lists, specifically the books for New FAOs: Army FAO Reading List
Check out this letter from a Department of State Foreign Service Officer, it applies as much to them as it does to FAOs: DoS Article Promotion Unicorns
Next, if you haven’t read the HQDA G-35 FAO Proponent guidance letter you should: 2022 FAO MEL4 info paper- how we do business now and 20240311 Language Failure and Remediation Policy Memo
Next, if you haven’t memorized the FAO chapter of DA PAM 600-3 then you should: 1-fa-48-foreign-area-officer-da-pam-600-3-as-of-23-apr-21
Then check out the following articles by COL (Ret.) Nick Lovelace, COL (Ret.) Laura Varhola, and Jonathan Ng in the book by LTC Wes Chaney: Advice for a US Security Cooperation Officer Serving in Africa – AFAOA Edition
As you go through your career as an Army FAO many different FAOs will tell you how they achieved promotions and what you should do. These should hopefully be all good mentoring sessions, however, some of them will be very specific to that one FAO. To give you a baseline of what the Army FAO Colonel population looks like look through this brief before beginning to engage with any FAO mentors FAO COL Overview – What does the average Army FAO Colonel’s career look like?
Language Resources:
HQDA DCS G35 Language Brief Jan24 UNCLASS
In-Region Training:
Stories from In Region Training
1993 Zimbabwe Sandusky lettersThe more things change the more they stay the same. Please see a letter of advice from then Major Sue Ann Sandusky to her replacement in Zimbabwe for In-Region Training (then called In-Country Training). Almost 90% of her advice is still relevant today.
Lastly, all FAOs should listen through all of the podcasts on the FAO Podcast by LTC Mike Hill: FAO Podcasts
Coaching or Mentorship or Both?
Which one do you need?
Within a mentoring relationship, coaching focuses on facilitating the mentee’s self-discovery and development through targeted questioning and reflection, rather than direct instruction or advice. It empowers the mentee to find their solutions and build confidence. While mentoring encompasses guidance and support based on the mentor’s experience, coaching delves deeper into the mentee’s individual needs and potential, fostering a more personalized and empowering learning experience.
Coaching within Mentoring
Focus: In this context, coaching emphasizes helping the mentee identify their strengths and weaknesses and then supporting them in developing strategies to achieve their goals. It’s about facilitating self-directed learning and growth.
Approach: Coaching utilizes powerful questions to encourage the mentee to reflect on their experiences, challenges, and aspirations. It’s a more client-centered and collaborative approach than simply offering advice.
Goal: The aim is to empower the mentee to become more self-aware, confident, and resourceful, enabling them to take ownership of their development journey.
Example: Instead of telling a mentee how to improve their presentation skills, a coach would ask questions about their past experiences, what they find challenging, and what resources they might need, encouraging them to discover their solutions and build confidence.
Relationship: While the mentor-mentee relationship can be informal, coaching within it often has a more structured and focused approach, with specific goals and timelines.
In contrast to a more traditional mentoring approach, where the mentor might directly share their own experiences and offer solutions, coaching within mentoring aims to unlock the mentee’s potential by fostering self-awareness and empowering them to find their answers.
The beginning of the AFAOA coaching session begins with each menter and mentee reviewing the mentee application and answers from the sign-up.
Army FAOs utilize the coaching portion of the AFAOA mentorship program first by participating in the following:
Past OPDs:
2026 Quarterly FAO Zoom topics: information on these will be distributed to our members and others via social media and HRC newsletters.
- Interviews with a retired FAO
- past HRC Branch Chiefs
- past or current SCD directors
- HRC training managers
Assignments:
- Navigating the DAS market
- EFMP
- Preparing for the SSC board
Below are some charts to layout the FAO training pipeline as well as the career paths for those who are new or those who need to update themselves on the current policies / procedures:
This section is under construction!!