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Foreign Area Officer


 

“It's clear that Allies and Partners are a center of gravity in our strategy. FAOs are national assets -- experienced warfighters who work across domains, theaters, and the spectrum of conflict, serving as a bridge between strategy and tactics at friction points across the globe.” – ADM Lisa Franchetti, CNO


The FAO Community (Designator 1710) is the Navy's only community of professionals who dedicate a career towards advancing objectives in the complex arena of international players. We do our work across all levels of the integrated fleet, the joint force, and the inter-agency as accredited naval diplomats, as the Navy's certified uniformed security cooperation professionals, and as the Navy's community of experts in regional political-military affairs, foreign languages, strategy, plans and policy. We are a lateral transfer only community, which accepts officers primarily from the URL communities after five years of commissioned service, warfare qualification in parent community, and completion of parent community's minimum service requirement.

Lateral Transfer/Redesignation to FAO (1710)

The next Lateral/Redesignation Board will be held on 27 February 2024. Officers interested in redesignating to the FAO Community should visit the Lateral Transfer webpage for general information and procedures relative to lateral transfer/redesignation boards.


Applications must include:

1.Current overseas suitability screening for applicant and all dependents, showing world-wide assignability to CENTCOM (NSA Bahrain) standards, documented on NAVPERS 1300/16 'Report of Suitability For Overseas Assignments'.
2.Proof of TS/SCI clearance eligibility (letter from SSO).
3.Personal Statement including ranked AOR preferences (see 'FAO Lateral Transfer Application Template' on lower right hand side of this page for more information)
4.Documentation of DLAB score 110 or higher (scores between 95 to 109 will be considered on a case by case basis).

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Applicants must have a minimum of 4 years of commissioned service (YCS).
  • Candidates should be within 18 months of PRD to be accepted as a FAO.
  • Candidates must be available for overseas PCS at next PRD.
  • Officers applying for lateral transfer into the FAO community are required to complete an interview with a designated Navy O6 FAO. Contact the FAO OCM upon submission of your application package to schedule your interview.


For further information regarding the FAO community please contact the FAO Community Manager.

For information regarding the Reserve FAO community, please click here.

 
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