International Military Education and Training (IMET) is the title of aUnited States security assistance program, a type of studentexchange program.[1]
Congress established the IMET program in the International Security Assistance andArms Export Control Act of 1976 (Pub. L. No. 94-329, June 30, 1976), which amended the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (Pub. L. No. 87-195, Sept. 4, 1961).[2] The policies underlying this program are directed by theUnited States Department of State'sBureau of Political-Military Affairs[3] and the constituent projects are administered by theUnited States Department of Defense.[4]
In 1990, theUnited States Congress expanded IMET to include the training of international civilian personnel and courses on responsible defense resource management, respect for democracy and civilian rule of law, civilian control of the military, military judicial systems and military codes of conduct and also added human rights vetting.[5]
In December 2019, the Department of Defense had 5,181 foreign students from 153 countries for security training.[6]
The mission of the IMET is to enhance regional stability through mutually beneficial military-to-military relations.[7][8]
Projects under the program include, but are not limited to, invitations for officers from foreign countries to attend various military schools in the United States, such as theU.S. Army War College or theNational Defense University, as well as providing funding for trainers to travel to foreign countries to provide specific, localized training. Topics of instruction are varied and range from English language classes to familiarization training with human rights concepts and thelaw of war. A complete list of topics varies by year, and may encompass several hundred distinct courses.[9]
The program has supports instruction in Spanish to U.S. and Latin American students at theWestern Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (previously called U.S. Army School of the Americas), the Inter-American Air Forces Academy and theNaval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School.[10][11]
According to theStockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States spent approximately $26 million for IMET forAfghan National Security Forces between 2002 and 2020.[12][13][14]
In 2016, Egypt was allocated $1.8 million for IMET.[15][16]
Pakistan Army officers have been trained through the IMET program since the early 1960s and since theSeptember 11 attacks after the program was briefly being suspended in the 1990s.[17][18]
In September 2017, theTrump administration announced that it would suspendPakistan's participation in the IMET program to pressure it to crack down onIslamist militants inthe region. Pakistan's participation was suspended in August 2018.[17][19] In December 2019, a State Department spokesperson announced that Washington "has approved the resumption of the International Military Education and Training program."[20][21] However, the training program has not yet been restored due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan and other reasons.[19][22]
U.S. military officers suspected that the recruitment ofMalian Armed Forces officers for IMET was distorted by bribery.[23]
Saudi Arabia's participation in IMET was restricted in the aftermath of the 2019Naval Air Station Pensacola shooting where an officer participant from theRoyal Saudi Air Force shot and killed three men.[24]
Senegal has been frequently cited as a country that has immensely benefitted from IMET by using military aid and training received to build a skilled domestic workforce. FormerArmed Forces of Senegal military engineers have become contractors, medics and military doctors have become private practitioners,Senegalese Air Force pilots and mechanics joinAir Senegal and senior officers schooled in national planning and strategy in the United States andFrance have been involved in local and national governments.[25]
The IMET program has been criticized for failing to sufficiently emphasize military professionalism, civilian control of militaries and the importance of democracy and human rights in its admission processes and curriculum.[26] Training in skills like engineering, transportation, policing and communications has also been criticised for being provided to militaries with a history of human-rights abuses and corruption.[27] Critics have also pointed out that training militaries weakens militaries' respect for civilian authority instead of improving civil-military relations.[25][28][29] IMET has also been criticised for being insufficiently funded to be an effective program.[30][31]