Photo By Kristen Pittman | Pallets of materiel purchased via Foreign Military Sales are delivered to the...... read more read more
Subscribe
It is no secret that providing capabilities to partners and allies through Foreign Military Sales can be a lengthy, bureaucratic process. In April 2025 President Donald J. Trump addressed this by issuing an executive order entitled “Reforming Foreign Defense Sales to Improve Speed and Accountability.”
Despite the myriad FMS challenges, the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command continues to work hard at meeting and exceeding expectation and requirements.
When the government of El Salvador submitted a letter of request early this year for M4 carbine rifles with a delivery requirement of December 2025, it may have seemed unlikely.
But thanks to a series of fortunate events and through country program manager Vanessa Lugo’s steadfast coordination with stakeholders across the Army Security Assistance Enterprise, the Armed Forces of El Salvador greeted a U.S. Air Force C-130J aircraft carrying a substantial load of M4A1s Aug. 26—a mere six weeks after payment.
“When the country sent me the (letter of request) at the beginning of this year with a deadline of December, I never said ‘No,’” Lugo said.
But a hitch quickly arose when she reached out to Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command and they notified her that they did not currently have any contracts out for the M4.
“I reached out to other CPMs here to see if they had any M4 cases,” said Lugo. “In the past there have been cases where we’ve been able to move equipment set for different countries without interfering with those timelines, but there weren’t any available that way because those countries were also waiting due to no contract.”
Not to be deterred, Lugo met with Col. Steve Winkleman, USASAC’s INDOPACOM/SOUTHCOM/NORTHCOM regional operations director, and worked up a potential solution of requesting a diversion.
The diversion was a great idea, Lugo said, but TACOM could not divert M4s they did not have. However, they did have M4A1s available if the partner nation was willing to submit a new LOR for that model along with a justification for the December delivery requirement.
Considering El Salvador already had an amendment requesting the M4A1s for a future case, Lugo said she was confident they would be open to the change which was confirmed when she reached out to Security Cooperation Officer Maj. Alessandro Licopoli at the U.S. Embassy San Salvador.
The El Salvador government submitted a new LOR with a justification for the expedited timeline. Lugo and TACOM quickly wrote the case, and the Letter of Offer and Acceptance was provided to the country March 3, but the funds to implement the case wouldn’t reach the U.S. until July 18. The funding delay put Lugo and company in a time crunch, as the diversion would have to be approved no later than Aug. 8.
“I was a little stressed because for most of that time I was TDY out of the country,” said Lugo. “But the rest of the team in New Cumberland, TACOM, and the CPM forward, Travis Otis, and even the colonel were reaching out and making sure the diversion approval was done in time.”
Thanks to ASAE teamwork, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation approved the diversion the day of the deadline.
While all of the M4A1s were not able to fit on the aircraft, being able to deliver most of the rifles months ahead of the suspense showcases the level of commitment USASAC and the ASAE have to ensure partner nations have the capabilities they need.
Lugo and Licopoli credit the total team effort with this success.
“In order to get the case done so quickly and demonstrate to our partners the value of the FMS system and buying U.S. equipment, we really leveraged every aspect of the chain,” said Licopoli. “From working initially with USASAC in the case-writing process and the diversion request to TACOM who had the rifles and DASA DE&C who reviewed and approved the diversion, it was teamwork across the entire enterprise.”
As for the remaining M4A1s purchased, the ASAE team is optimistic that there will be an opportunity in the near future to close the case and deliver them well ahead of schedule.
| Date Taken: | 09.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2025 13:18 |
| Story ID: | 547668 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Speed and Precision: ASAE rapid rifle delivery highlights value of FMS partnerships, by Kristen Pittman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
