14
Apr
Bilateral Cooperation Spain - USA
Within the bilateral defense cooperation framework between Spain and the United States, and as a follow-up to the visit by the Secretary of State for Defense, the Director General of Economic Affairs Major General Vicente Gimeno, came to Washington on a four-day visit with a tight schedule organized by his Cabinet and the Office of the Defense Cooperation Attaché. He was accompanied by the Deputy Director General of Economic Management, General Maximiliano Moya Santos, the Chief of his Cabinet, Colonel José Luís Sánchez Martínez, and the Chief of the Foreign Payment Management Center, Lt. Col. Francisco Javier Echeverría Jiménez.
Meeting in the Defense Attaché’s Office
On day one they visited the Defense Attaché’s Office, where accompanied by the Defense Attaché, General Angel Valcárcel, the Military, Naval and Air Attachés and the Defense Cooperation Attaché, Colonel Angel Rodríguez, joined also by the Assistant Defense Cooperation Attachés, they made a detailed presentation of the missions and operations of the Defense Cooperation Attaché’s Office (so far the only one in existence), and the main problems faced during the fulfillment of its tasks.
Meeting in the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
With the purpose of exploring and applying lines of logistic and financial efficiency in our Armed Forces, the DIGENECO visited the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) where he had the opportunity to discuss the centralized model used by the Agency when purchasing equipment common to all Services (weapon systems spare parts, fuel, supplies, uniforms and materiel, etc.) with Mr. Matthew Beebe, in charge of DLA acquisitions, who manages a 38 million dollar budget, and was accompanied by several members of his staff.
Meeting in the Pentagon
Accompanied by the Defense Attaché, DIGENECO was received in the Pentagon by Mr. Keith Webster, Director, International Cooperation Office ¨Acquisition, Technology and Logistics¨ (AT&L) with whom for an hour they discussed a great number of subjects of interest for both countries.
Meeting in the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA)
He also visited the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in order to discuss with the Deputy Director, Jennifer Zakriski, the financial status of military equipment acquisitions with the U. S. government through the Foreign Military Sales System (FMS). The Deputy Director showed DIGENECO the new management model the Agency is developing and implementing in order to (following Mr. Kendall´s instructions (Undersecretary of Defense for AT&L)), provide better quality service, major transparency at a lesser cost to the allied nations, that is, the 2020 Vision document.
Other activities of the delegation
The delegation participated also in the Financial Management Review (FMR) dealing with the main problems and discussing the possible solutions to the FMS cases that Spain keeps open with the United States.
Social activities
Ambassador Ramon Gil-Casares offered dinner to the delegation in his residence where they reviewed the main conclusions gathered during the visits.
