YOU CAN RELY ON THE TESS


believe that maintaining alliances is the most effective way to achieve U.S. foreign policy goals.


“Nine in 10. It’s not hard to see why,” said Blinken. “Tere’s a reason a vast major- ity of Americans support U.S. alliances, even if they’re divided along party lines on many other issues.


“It’s the same reason why Republicans and Democrats in Congress have consistently reassured our allies that our commitments are resolute. It’s because we see our alli- ances not as burdens, but as a way to get help from others in shaping a world that reflects our interests and our values.”


Whittaker said PEO STRI IPO is helping shape the world as the office manages 412 foreign military sales cases totaling $3.7 billion in more than 67 partner nations.


NEXT BEST THING


TESS can provide “the very best training that is humanly possible outside of an actual battlefield,” Lujan said. (Photo by Gertrud Zach, Training Support Activity Europe)


“And that’s where you can really see the significance of America’s security assistance mission, and specifically the rela- tionship-building that results from FMS,” Whittaker said. “Tanks to these relation- ships, we’ve already been training on the same equipment with our allies, so we’ve trained together and we know how to fight together. We already have prepositioned stock and country-to-country agreements in place that allow us to quickly maneuver both troops and combat-ready equipment and materiel across foreign terrain. Every- thing is already in place when we need it.”


STRONG ALLIES ARE GOOD DEFENSE But there’s more to foreign policy and global security than warfighting, notes Whittaker. “Tere are a host of other


14 Army AL&T Magazine Summer 2021


threats we tackle alongside our allies through the use of security assistance.”


U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed this sentiment in March, during his first visit to NATO Headquarters in Brussels.


“Americans look at the threats we face— like climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, economic inequality, an increasingly assertive China—and they know that the United States is much better off tackling them with partners, rather than trying to do it alone. And all our allies can say the same,” he said.


During his remarks, Blinken referenced a recent Chicago Council on Global Affairs poll that states that nine in 10 Americans


FMS provisions by PEO STRI IPO cover everything from training aids and devices to simulators and simulation systems for helicopters, tanks and combat vehi- cles. One of the many training products designed to bolster partner nations is the Tactical Engagement Simulation System (TESS). TESS is a standalone system that can be installed on multiple platforms— tanks, vehicles and aircraft.


Theodore Lujan, assistant program manager for FMS at the PEO STRI IPO, has close oversight of TESS and specializes in its use on the main platform: aircraft. “Te TESS is a state-of-the-art system stimulated by lasers that replicate an aircraft receiving fire, and returning fire.” He called it an unusually realistic and immersive training experience, “probably as close as you’ll get to combat without being in combat.”


Tis is important, said Lujan, because the more realistic the training provided before


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