History

The Soviet Army Studies Office (SASO) (1986-1991) to the Foreign Military Studies Office FMSO (1991-Present)

FMSO’s predecessor was the U.S. Army’s Soviet Army Studies Office (SASO). Founded in 1986 and modeled on the U.K.’s Soviet Studies Research Center (SSRC), FMSO’s forebearer brought together a cohort of experienced U.S. Army Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) and academic experts to study the military capabilities, politics, and culture of the Soviet Union. These staff spoke Russian, had lived in the Soviet Union, and had previously published on Soviet topics.

SASO experts conducted open-source research based on materials including Soviet newspapers, books, training manuals, and archives, and published their findings in peer-reviewed academic and military journals. SASO also worked with senior Army leadership and the National Training Center (NTC) at a critical time of change to help the United States more effectively train for a potential war and an uncertain peace. SASO experts further helped build trust during tense times, conducting many personal exchanges and visits to the Soviet Union as well as hosting visiting Soviet Generals, many of whom would soon find themselves in the service of entirely different countries. SASO experts’ deep understanding of the Soviet system also allowed them to provide warning of the impending dissolution of the Soviet Union.

SASO was rebranded as the Foreign Military Studies Office in 1991 after the Soviet Union fell. FMSO’s mission expanded beyond SASO’s focus on Soviet and European affairs to include tracking global developments. A new cohort of regional subject matter experts and linguists joined the team. FMSO established itself as a leader in providing key insights about China, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. While FMSO retained SASO’s focus on military strategy, operations, and tactics, it also began to produce research on newer areas such as cybersecurity, insurgency, terrorism, natural resources, and border conflicts and trans-border crime.