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The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), is a United States Department of Defense Institute located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia in the United States. Authorized by US Congress through 10 USC 2166 in 2001, WHINSEC "Provides professional education and training to eligible personnel of nations of the Western Hemisphere within the context of the democratic principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States (such charter being a treaty to which the United States is a party), while fostering mutual knowledge, transparency, confidence, and cooperation among the participating nations and promoting democratic values, respect for human rights, and knowledge and understanding of United States customs and traditions." (10 USC 2166). Throughout the decade since its establishment, WHINSEC has provided training for more than 13,000 US and International students. Its educational format incorporates guest lecturers and subject matter experts from sectors of US and International government, non-government, human rights, law enforcement, academic institutions and interagency departments to share best practices in pursuit of improved security cooperation between all nations of the Western Hemisphere. Additional information is included below concerning WHINSEC's history, curriculum and opponents of US training programs open to Latin American nations.

Peronnel eligible for training at WHINSEC include military (Cadets, Non-Commissioned Officers, Commissioned Officers), Law Enforcement and Civilian personnel. (10 USC 2166). US military and interagency personnel are also eligible to attend training at the Institute. The US State Department is consulted in the selection of every foreign student identified to attend WHINSEC and conducts a vetting process to validate their appropriateness to receive training. (10 USC 2166 find additional vetting source)Nations of the Western Hemisphere are defined by the US State Department (http://www.state.gov/p/wha/ci/index.htm)

WHINSEC's curriculum includes "mandatory instruction for each student, for at least 8 hours, on human rights, the rule of law, due process, civilian control of the military, and the role of the military in a democratic society." The current courses and course descriptions being taught at WHINSEC can be found on their official website in both English and Spanish. (http://www.benning.army.mil/tenant/whinsec/courseCatalog.html)

Government oversight for WHINSEC is provided by the WHINSEC Board of Visitors, a Federal Advisory Committee established in 10 USC 2166 and directed to "inquire into the curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, and academic methods of the Institute, other matters relating to the Institute that the Board decides to consider, and any other matter that the Secretary of Defense determines appropriate. The Board shall review the curriculum of the Institute to determine whether: (i) the curriculum complies with applicable United States laws and regulations; (ii) the curriculum is consistent with United States policy goals toward Latin America and the Caribbean; (iii) the curriculum adheres to current United States doctrine; and(iv) the instruction under the curriculum appropriately emphasizes the matters specified in subsection (d)(l)."[mandatory human rights training as mentioned previously] (10 USC 2166)

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation was established in Public Law 106-398with the signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2001, Section 2166, to provide professional education and training to eligible persons of the nations of the Western Hemisphere within the context of the democratic principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States. The Institute opened its doors on January 17, 2001, with Army Colonel Richard D. Downie as the first Director (later changed to Commandant).

Paz, Libertad, y Fraternidad—Peace, Liberty, and Brotherhood—is the WHINSEC motto.

At its beginning, WHINSEC’s headquarters and its classrooms were in Ridgway Hall, Building 35, the US Army’s Infantry School from 1935-1964, and later used as an office building for various units until the US Army School of the Americas moved in in January, 1985. Ridgway Hall was considered ideal for the use of the Institute after USARSA closed in December, 2000.

The Institute’s mission also includes fostering mutual knowledge, transparency, confidence, and cooperation by promoting democratic values; respect for human rights; and an understanding of U.S.customs and traditions. Specific subjects set by Congress include leadership development; counterdrug operations; peacekeeping; resource management; and disaster preparedness and relief planning. In every course offered, eight hours of democracy and human rights instruction is mandatory.

The Institute is a Department of Defense facility; the Secretary of Defense retains oversight responsibilities. The Secretary of the Army is the executive agent for the operation of the Institute. The Institute is subordinate to the Combined Arms Center, Ft. Leavenworth, KS, an activity of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, which is responsible for all educational activities of the Army. Oversight includes an independent, federally chartered Board of Visitors with members of Congress and eminent clergy, academicians, and business persons. (The annual minutes of the Board of Visitors can be found on the federal committee website). When WHINSEC opened in January, 2001, it occupied Ridgway Hall, the historic building that began in 1935 as the first permanent Headquarters of Fort Benning and the location of the Army’s Infantry School.

Army Colonel Richard D. Downie was the first Commandant of the Institute, opening it and serving until March 2004.

Amos Library To pay tribute to the role Columbus, Georgia, and the neighboring communities have played as friends and mentors to the Latin American and Caribbean students attending the Institute, the library, the focal point of any academic institution, is named in honor of the late John B. Amos and Elena Diaz-Verson Amos. John B. Amos was a central figure in Columbus' business and civic communities. His wife, the late Elena Diaz-Verson Amos, was active in Latin American affairs and in the promotion of human rights throughout the region. He was followed in command by Col. Gilberto R. Pérez, an Army Special Forces Officer with extensive experience in Latin America.

Col. Felix Santiago took the guidon from Col. Pérez on July 29, 2008, following a six-year stint as the Military Advisory Group commander in El Salvador.

Shortly after Col. Santiago took command, the Institute was relocated into Lewis Hall, Greene Hall, and Collins Hall; with classrooms set up in temporary buildings. This was necessitated by the preparations for the arrival of the Armor School and the redesignation of Fort Benning to the Maneuver Center of Excellence.

On Jul 8, 2010, Col. Felix Santiago retired from the Army and was replaced by Col. Glenn R. Huber, Jr., who had recently returned from a tour in Iraq, but who has had multiple assignments in the Western Hemisphere including WHINSEC (as a division chief and instructor).

During Col. Huber’s tenure, MCOE designated the old Station Hospital complex as the permanent campus of WHINSEC, to be occupied upon renovation in early 2013. The Station Hospital’s main building served for many years as the site of the National Infantry Museum. Faculty and staff are composed of members of all the armed services of the United States and other countries; other U.S. government agencies, including the State Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency; civilian professors; and visiting researchers, guest speakers and lecturers. This multi-service and multinational team educated 818 students during 2001, 977 in 2002, 1190 in 2003, 995 in 2004, 686 in 2005, 1217 in 2006, 1337 in 2007, and 1476 in 2008. These numbers include both resident students and students of mobile training teams sent to requesting countries. Students are men and women—military, law enforcement, and civilians—taking one of 24 professional courses that range from NCO Professional Development to a fully accredited Command and General Staff Officer Course. These courses range in length from two weeks to 49 weeks long.

To fulfill its requirement for fostering ‘transparency, confidence and cooperation,’ the Institute employs a variety of activities beyond the classroom. The Field Studies Program extends the familiarization with US customs and culture with trips to local government as a minimum, with longer courses also visiting state government and even national government agencies, plus sites of cultural interest such as Tuskegee University, Andersonville National Historic Site, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial, and the Carter Center. During Hispanic Heritage Month, two events help acquaint the local communities with their region. The first is called the Parade of Nations and Cena Típica, and is held in downtown Columbus. The people of the institute offer short presentations of the folk traditions of their countries, and then everyone enjoys a typical Latin American dinner. On the last Friday of September, the people of the institute set up country booths in the gym of Faith Middle School, and schools from the area send their students on a field trip to learn about the nations. More than 1300 schoolchildren participated in 2006, 1200 in 2007, and approximately 1000 in 2008.

Every two years, the American Council on Education sends a team to evaluate all courses, assigning value to each that could be used in appropriate civilian degree programs. Each institute course has been determined to be eligible for credits, including six courses that have graduate-level value. Troy (AL) University, Norwich (VT) University, and Florida International University are applying these credits to their students’ programs. Jones International University, an accredited online school, applies credits to four Masters Programs. Chain of Command

The Department of Defense is responsible for the institute and its activities. The Secretary of Defense has designated the Secretary of the Army as his executive Agent to supervise and manage it.

The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), which is responsible for all Army doctrine development and training, and its subordinate command, the Combined Arms Center (CAC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, exercise supervisory command and control of the institute. US Army centers and schools (under TRADOC) are responsible for providing up-to-date training support packages for all military operations related to courses taught at the WHINSEC. This policy ensures that all instruction is current, correct, and taught to DOD standards.

Because the WHINSEC supports both the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and the US Northern Command (NORTHCOM) in their security cooperation missions, the commanders participate directly in curriculum selection and periodic reviews. When Congress passed the Defense Authorization Bill for 2001 and President Bill Clinton signed it into law, WHINSEC was created. The law called for a federal advisory committee -the Board of Visitors (BoV) - to maintain independent review, observation, and recommendation regarding operations of the institute. The 14-member BoV includes members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, representatives from the State Department, U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Northern Command, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and six members designated by the Secretary of Defense. These six members include representatives from the human rights, religious, academic, and business communities. The board reviews and advises on areas such as curriculum, academic instruction, and fiscal affairs of the institute. Their reviews ensure relevance and consistency with US policy, laws, regulation, and doctrine.

Members of the Board are not compensated by reason of service on the Board.

The BoV is required to meet annually and report to Congress through the Secretary of Defense. The board plans to hold its next meeting in September, 2011, at the Institute.

History

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation opened its doors on January 17, 2001, with Colonel Richard D. Downie as the first Commandant. The Institute occupied Ridgway Hall, the first permanent home of the Army’s Infantry School.

Over the past eleven years, those who have served here have trained and educated almost 14,000 men and women—military, law enforcement and civilian—representing 34 countries.

In March 2004, Col. Gilberto Perez took the reins as commandant, serving for more than four years. Col. Pérez led the Institute in its transformation of the CGSOC to ILE to match the instructional model of the Command and General Staff College, linking WHINSEC’s curriculum to the Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Col. Felix Santiago became commandant in July, 2008, just in time to oversee the move of the Institute to the temporary quarters we are in today—Collins, Lewis and Greene Halls plus the modular classrooms nearby. During Col. Santiago’s tenure, the Institute re-organized its teaching departments into three components: The School of Professional Military Education, the School of Specialized Studies, and the Roy Benavidez NCO Academy.

On 8 July, 2010, COL Glenn R. Huber, Jr., assumed command of WHINSEC and began preparing the Institute for its second decade of service to the US Army, DoD and the nations of the Western Hemisphere. This includes establishing a permanent academic complex for WHINSEC’s staff, faculty, and students on the campus of the Fort Benning Station Hospital. Renovation work has already begun on this historic complex of buildings that opened in 1925 and provided treatment to thousands of Soldiers during World War II and the Korean War. These facilities will feature a state-of-the-art academic environment with 21st Century classrooms.

WHINSEC maintains a culture of respect for the nations of our hemisphere, celebrating the Independence anniversaries of each with a ceremony and a toast to the nation. An annual “Festival of the Hemisphere” includes expositions of folklore, food and drinks of the countries present. In addition, WHINSEC’s instructors and students share their nations’ cultures with elementary, middle and high school students during cultural expositions at local schools.

WHINSEC’s second decade began with a ceremony that featured the U.S. Ambassador to Brazil, Thomas Shannon, who had been instrumental in supporting the Institute during his days as the State Department’s Deputy Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

The vitality of the organization can be shown by the number of students who passed through the doors during the year—1272 from 25 countries learned here on our campus. 354 more got training from our superb instructors forming Mobile Training Teams in partner nations.

For the first time, West Point cadets joined ROTC students in the cultural and language immersion program that puts them in a leadership course with cadets from a partner nation—this year from Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

The School of Professional Military Education reached several milestones, including the first steps toward adding the elements to the Captains Career Course so that U.S. captains will be credited for all the requirements now available in the MCoE course.

The current ILE class is the first to be able to earn the Master of Military Arts and Sciences degree during the year of study.

In the School of Specialized Studies, the Counterdrug Operations Course continued its collaboration with the Navy Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School, sending students twice to Mississippi to conduct missions involving riverine operations. This partnership pays dividends beyond the Army as it brings WHINSEC to the attention of other military departments and to other agencies.

The Roy Benavidez NCO Academy remains the Institute’s primary link with the Caribbean basin nations by offering its NCO Professional Development Course in English. Eight nations sent students to that course, nations that would not otherwise have had the opportunity to develop relationships and share experiences with their Spanish-speaking neighbors.

WHINSEC continues to enhance the capabilities of security forces and ministries of our home, the Americas, with a vision that anticipates strong interagency collaboration and new regional—perhaps even global—partnerships.