§ 321 — Training With Friendly Foreign Countries: Payment Of Training And Exercise Expenses

(1) The armed forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense may train with the military forces or other security forces of a friendly foreign country if the Secretary determines that it is in the national security interest of the United States to do so. (2) The general purpose forces of the United States armed forces may train only with the military forces of a friendly foreign country. (3) Any training conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, support the mission essential tasks for which the unit of the United States armed forces participating in such training is responsible. (4) Any training conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall, to the maximum extent practicable, include elements that promote— (A) observance of and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and (B) respect for legitimate civilian authority within the foreign country concerned. (b) Under regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary of a military department or the commander of a combatant command may pay, or authorize payment for, any of the following expenses: (1) Expenses of training forces assigned or allocated to that command in conjunction with training, and training with, the military forces or other security forces of a friendly foreign country under subsection (a). (2) Expenses of deploying such forces for that training. (3) The incremental expenses of a friendly foreign country as the direct result of participating in such training, as specified in the regulations. (4) The incremental expenses of a friendly foreign country as the direct result of participating in an exercise with the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense. (5) Small-scale construction that is directly related to the effective accomplishment of the training described in paragraph (1) or an exercise described in paragraph (4). (1) The primary purpose of the training and exercises for which payment may be made under subsection (b) shall be to train United States forces. (2) Training and exercises with friendly foreign countries under subsection (a) should be planned and prioritized consistent with applicable guidance relating to the security cooperation programs and activities of the Department of Defense. (d) Amounts available for the authority to pay expenses in subsection (b) for a fiscal year may be used to pay expenses under that subsection for training and exercises that begin in such fiscal year but end in the next fiscal year. (e) Not later than the end of the first calendar quarter beginning after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, and every calendar quarter thereafter, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a notice setting forth the schedule of planned training engagement pursuant to subsection (a) during the calendar quarter first following the calendar quarter in which such notice is submitted. (1) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this section. The Secretary shall submit the regulations to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives. (2) The regulations required under this section shall provide the following: (A) A requirement that training and exercise activities may be carried out under this section only with the prior approval of the Secretary. (B) Accounting procedures to ensure that the expenditures pursuant to this section are appropriate. (C) Procedures to limit the payment of incremental expenses to friendly foreign countries only to developing countries, except in the case of exceptional circumstances as specified in the regulations.