NEW ORLEANS -- Marine administrative message 245/15 announces that the Marine Corps International Affairs Program is now accepting applications for Foreign Area Staff Non-Commissioned Officers.
FAS Marines support the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ mission to educate and train Marines to succeed in complex human environments. The FAS Marines provide the Corps with an expanded capacity to identify, track, and employ Marines with Language, Regional Expertise and Culture skills. FAS Marines serve as LREC subject matter experts to Marine Air Ground Task Force commanders at tactical and operational level staffs across the range of military operations. LREC skills are particularly relevant in accomplishing security cooperation, irregular warfare, stability operations, counterinsurgency, information operations, civil affairs, and other missions. Marines selected for the FAS program may be selected to serve on Marine Expeditionary Units or Marine Force-level staffs, with Marine Corps Information Operations Center, Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group, civil affairs detachments or embassy staffs. Marines selected to participate in the FAS program will be awarded a regional FAS additional military occupational specialty. Marines with experience in any region and foreign language proficiency are encouraged to apply.
Applicants for the FAS program must be SNCOs and should meet at least one of the following three requirements:
a. Possess an associate’s degree or 60 college credits.
b. Possess six months of foreign cultural immersion or professional level regional experience (for the purposes of this program, foreign cultural immersion is defined as in-depth, daily interaction with foreign populations).
c. Demonstrate intermediate level foreign language proficiency (score a minimum of 1+ in two tested modalities of the Defense Language Proficiency Test or Oral Proficiency Interview).
For more information about how to application requirements, deadlines and the selection process, see the MARADMIN.