SCO Qualification Course
DSCU’s DSI offers SCO-250, Security Cooperation Organization (SCO) Qualification Course to Security Cooperation Workforce (SCW) members coded in the Security Cooperation Organization functional area as Practitioner proficiency level.
The SCO Qualification Course consists of approximately eight weeks at DSCU Headquarters in the National Capital Region (NCR) and is the primary training course for those personnel on assignment to SCOs. The course is designed to provide students with crucial, foundational knowledge for executing Security Cooperation activities with allies and partners to meet national security objectives.
If a student requires Department of State mandated Foreign Affairs Counter Threat (FACT) training, DSCA's Defense Security Cooperation Service will schedule it as part of a student’s training schedule. FACT will be executed separately through the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC). Note: most FACT courses will be conducted immediately following the SCO Qualification Course, during Week 8. The SCO Qualification Course is a full-time course (except weekends and federal holidays).
Objectives
Graduates will be able to:
- Advance U.S. Strategy by advising senior U.S. leadership on, and executing, Security Cooperation policy.
- Enable partner nation capability by accurately and effectively representing the U.S. to assigned partner nation.
- Demonstrate leadership of the SCO enterprise by mentoring personnel and effectively managing resources.
Target Attendees
The SCO Qualification Course is mandatory, per DoDI 5132.13, for all personnel assigned to a SCO, specifically for students needing to be Practitioner certified in the SCO Functional Area. Personnel assigned to SCOs who have served in a SCO within the last five years may be eligible to attend SCO-350 if they meet specific criteria for enrollment in that course.
Perquisites
Prerequisite (to be completed before course start):
- SC-102 Foundations of Security Cooperation (online, self-paced, 1-hour course)
Prework
Prework (to be completed before course graduation):
- CD-201 Capability Development for Practitioners (online, self-paced, 3-hours) (Available soon)
- PMA-201 Political-Military Activities for Practitioners (online, self-paced, 4-hours)
- REG-201 Working Across Cultures for Security Cooperation Practitioners (3-hours) (Available soon)
- TSFD-201 Tech Security-Foreign Disclosure and End-Use Controls for Practitioners (online, 3-hours)
Substitute Course(s)
SCO-350: SCO Refresher Course and SCO-411 SCO Senior Orientation Course (for those who meet specific prerequisites).
If students have taken the following SCO Courses within the last five years, they may be exempt from taking the SCO Qualification Course. Previous versions of SCO training include the Security Cooperation Management - OCONUS Course (SCM-O), (2019); SCO-201 (2020-2022); SCO-220 (2023-2024).
Prospective students should reach out to the SCO Management Team for questions regarding waivers, and alternative courses:
dsca.ncr.dscs.list.stm-tngmgmt@mail.mil.
Course Length
~8 weeks
Delivery Mode
Instructor Led Training (vILT) (In-Residence)
Registration
Register Here
Please contact DSCU's registrar's office at dsca.wright-patt.dscu.list.registrars@mail.mil with additional questions concerning registration. For questions concerning SCO-250 SCO Qualification Course content and execution, contact the Defense SCO Institute at:
dsca.ncr.dscu.list.dsi-info@mail.mil.