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SCO Spouse Course

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DSCU’s DSI offers a Security Cooperation Organization (SCO) Spouse Course. DSI’s Security Cooperation Organization (SCO) Spouse Course is designed for spouses of U.S. military personnel and DoD direct-hire civilian employees assigned to security cooperation positions in U.S. embassies. Like SCO personnel, spouses operate in a unique international and interagency environment without typical support systems.  SCO Spouse training is valuable for SCO mission success and family safety. 

Upon completion of this course, SCO spouse students will have a broad foundation designed to equip and integrate themselves and their families into the embassy and foreign service communities. Additionally, the course will provide information on the resources and support networks available to help foster success in these unique tours of duty.  

This hybrid course includes both virtual and an optional resident phase and is held five times each fiscal year, with funded travel by DSCU for SCO spouses to attend the in-residence week held in the NCR.

Objectives

  • Describe SCO functions and identify relationships crucial to SCO mission success.  
  • Explain the function of U.S. embassies and identify partner agencies in the embassy community.   
  • Discuss unique aspects of life in SCO postings overseas. 
  • Apply international etiquette and protocol guidelines to demonstrate behavior appropriate in international social and professional settings.  
  • Describe resources and strategies for maintaining personal and family resilience. 
  • Identify post security resources and crisis management procedures. 
  • Describe personal safety and security best practices to use during SCO postings.  
  • Recognize counterintelligence concerns and identify ways to reduce potential social media vulnerabilities. 
  • Describe ethical issues encountered by SCOs and explain relevant U.S. Government and DoD Standards of conduct.  
  • Evaluate real-world SCO case studies and formulate solutions to address challenges. 
  • Identify, apply, and evaluate techniques appropriate for answering difficult or controversial questions as a member of the US diplomatic community in an unofficial capacity.  

Target Attendees

The SCO Spouse Course is designed for spouses of U.S. military personnel and DoD direct-hire civilian employees assigned to security cooperation positions in U.S. embassies.

Prerequisites

This course has no prerequisites.

Course Length

15 Days Virtual Instructor Led Training (vILT); 5 Days Instructor Led Training (ILT);  20 Total Days

Registration

Click here and fill out a System Authorization Access Request (SAAR) to register as a non-Common Access Card (CAC) holder. If you need help completing the SAAR, full instructions are available here.

SCO-251 student registrations are accepted up to 7 calendar days prior to each course start date. After that date, students will be accepted on a case-by-case basis or will be added to a later course iteration. For any questions regarding the SCO-251 Spouse Course, please contact the Defense SCO Institute.