Active 1953 – | Country United States | |
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Type Security Assistance Organization (SAO) Headquarters Eskan Village, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Nickname(s) USMTM (pronounced "yuce-a-MIT-em") Chief Major General Peter D. Utley | ||
The United States Military Training Mission (USMTM) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a Security Assistance Organization (SAO) which manages and is primarily funded by Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases between the United States Government and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. USMTM was the result of a meeting between King Abdul Aziz and United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Great Bitter Lake.
Contents
Mission
USMTM coordinates security assistance efforts to train, advise, and assist the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces in building defense capacity/capability through military exercises and professional military education in order to promote regional security and to protect common interests of the United States of America and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while strengthening our strategic partnership.
USMTM Goals
To maintain and enhance the strategic partnership between the KSA and the USA.
To train, advise, and assist the Saudi Arabian Armed Forces (SAAF) to:
USMTM is a Joint Command composed of officers and enlisted personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The head of USMTM carries the title of "Chief" and is also designated the senior U.S. Defense Representative (USDR) for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. USMTM is the primary liaison between U.S. Armed Forces and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA), the Saudi counterpart to the American Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Within USMTM there are six divisions, each who interfaces with a Saudi counterpart:
Chain of Command
USMTM is a joint training mission and functional component command under the military command of the USCENTCOM, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. USMTM’s mission is to advise and assist the Saudi Arabian armed forces through security cooperation efforts in developing, training and sustaining capable deterrent and self-defense forces for Saudi Arabia in order to facilitate regional security. The mission of USMTM directly supports USCENTCOM’s theater strategy to shape, respond and prepare, through forward presence, bilateral and multilateral exercise programs, security assistance activities, and foreign military sales.
Both military and civilian personnel assigned to USMTM are under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department and the Saudi Arabian Ministry Defense and Aviation and are classified as non-combatants under Title 22 of the United States Code.
History
The 1951 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement and the 1977 Accords (known as the USMTM Agreement) formed and governs the basis and function of USMTM in Saudi Arabia. USMTM was formally established on 27 June 1953 and is still a fundamental component of the US/Saudi military relationship.