Military Attaché: The Military Representation in Diplomatic Relations

A military attaché is the military representative of a sovereign nation in another friendly country with which it has full diplomatic relations, mutual respect, and cooperation in various fields, including military cooperation. The term “military attaché” is not the prevalent one in this field; in some countries, it is replaced by “war attaché” or “defense attaché,” depending on the name of the ministry responsible for military tasks in the attaché’s country.

The military attaché is the representative of the Minister of Defense of their country in the accredited country. They are the primary official responsible for executing the military tasks assigned to them by their country to achieve cooperation with the accredited country. They are the military representative of their country before other diplomatic missions in the country where they work and are a key member of their country’s embassy. Their tasks are governed by political and military agreements regulated by international law, as specified in the Vienna Convention, which organizes the rights and duties of diplomatic missions and the immunities enjoyed by diplomats, signed on April 18, 1961.

The military attaché heads a group of military and civilian personnel that make up the military attaché office and coordinates their tasks within the office’s internal operations. They also coordinate the office’s tasks with the embassy of their country.

The military attaché office may be located within the embassy building or in a separate location outside of it. However, in all cases, regardless of its location, it raises its country’s flag and enjoys all the diplomatic immunities specified by the Vienna Convention in this regard, including the host country’s responsibility for security and protection.

Military representation between countries is not limited to the form of a military attaché alone but can take various forms, depending on different considerations regulated by international treaties and the customary practices of diplomatic relations between countries.

Levels of Military Representation

The levels of military representation of one country in another vary, and thus, the form of a military attaché is not the only form of military representation. Many other forms are subject to conditions and principles that govern international relations and the prevailing customs between countries in diplomatic systems. It is known that military representation represents the highest level of cooperation between countries and the desire to develop relations in various fields, not just the military. It is only achieved when stability, mutual trust, respect, and balance of power are achieved between countries. The level of military representation is governed by the following principles:

1. The level of political and military relations between countries and the extent of coordination between them in various fields, including military representation. For example, a country like the United States insists on having primary military representation, especially between it and countries of shared interest and major regional countries. Therefore, the level of military representation of the United States varies according to the size of cooperation; in some countries, the representation is complete for the branches of the armed forces (land, navy, air), and these are the countries that receive special attention in the American strategy. In some countries, the representation is unified, encompassing all three branches through one military attaché, and these are the countries that do not have mutual trust, so military representation is conducted covertly and through one of the embassy’s offices under a different name, such as “military office,” but it performs the tasks of a military attaché without official announcement.
2. The strategic importance reflected by the country’s position in relation to other countries and the impact of this position on their national security. For example, a large regional country like Saudi Arabia insists on having complete representation between it and the countries of the Arab Gulf, as Gulf security has become a necessity for all countries located in it. Similarly, its Arab interests, especially with influential countries and the integration of national security, make it committed to having military representation within the political representation to major Arab countries. At the same time, its Islamic commitment makes it necessary to have this representation with major countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. In the same context, we find that a country like Israel has specific interests in the southern Red Sea, making its military representation in countries like Ethiopia and Eritrea larger than its representation in any other country, including the United States. Israel aims to strengthen military relations between it and these two countries and freeze any Arab relations with them, indicating future Israeli goals in the southern Red Sea, in addition to benefiting from the experiences of the October War and standing against any future Arab intentions to close navigation in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait against it.
3. The existence of shared military interests that require developing cooperation in this field. This requires increasing the size of the military mission to cover different areas of cooperation. It is worth mentioning the shared interests of the Soviet Union (formerly) in the region in the aftermath of the 1967 setback, which led to the expansion of shared military interests and, consequently, the expansion of Soviet military representation in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. At that stage (between June 67 and July 73), it reached the level of “militarization” of relations between the Soviet Union and those countries, and the size of the military diplomatic mission exceeded the size of the political mission itself.
4. The occurrence of an emergency situation that requires military representation between two countries. This situation is caused by the emergency changes in one country, which require the exchange of military representation to achieve cooperation necessitated by the phase’s circumstances. In this context, it is worth mentioning that relations between Egypt and Iraq were severed since the Baghdad Summit decisions in May 1979, then the situation evolved on the Iraqi front starting from June 1982, as a reflection of the development of the Iraq-Iran war, which led to the Iraqi government’s request for mutual military representation between it and Egypt within the framework of the “Interests Section Office” for both countries. This was done to achieve Iraq’s interest in having primary Egyptian support to back its military campaigns against Iran, and Egypt immediately fulfilled Iraq’s request.
5. The participation of some countries in facing a common enemy, whether permanent or phase-specific. This participation is evident in regional countries with shared goals. (It is a natural situation in military relations), and the level of military representation within the European Union may reflect this form of military relations, characterized by distinction, cooperation, and integration, to build an effective European force.
6. The participation of some countries in military alliances. This is a more integrated form than the previous principle and is exemplified by the current North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and, to a lesser extent, the military cooperation between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) “Peninsula Shield” and other military alliances worldwide.

Forms of Military Representation

The relationships recognized in the military field are divided into five main sections, subject to the principles and systems practiced under the 1961 Vienna Convention. All of them aim, to varying degrees, to establish a form of military cooperation between countries and achieve the desired goals of military relations in their different fields. The forms of military representation are divided as follows:

1. Military Attaché Office:

It is the primary form of military representation between two independent countries that have cooperation in the military field in all its forms. It is established when diplomatic representation between the two countries is complete and stable, with a desire to develop cooperation and maintain normal relations in all fields, including the military.

In this case, the military attaché office is one of the main offices within the embassy of the country, and it is not required to be located in the same embassy building. It can be established in a separate building, where the country’s flag is raised, and it enjoys the diplomatic immunity specified for the embassy building, in addition to coordinating the work between it and the embassy according to the style agreed upon between the country’s ambassador and the military attaché.

The attaché office may be called other names, such as “Defense Attaché Office” or “War Attaché Office,” depending on the name of the ministry to which the attaché office belongs in its country. However, the most common name is “Military Attaché Office.”

The military attaché is the direct head of the military attaché office and leads a group of personnel working in it, including officers, civilians, and military personnel. They are the primary responsible person for military representation between their country and the country where the attaché office is located and are responsible for executing the military tasks assigned to them by their country to achieve coordination and cooperation in the military field between their country and the other country.

The diplomatic protocol determines the seniority of the military attaché among the embassy members (according to its size and the number of personnel working in it), and they are usually the second or third person in the embassy. However, they do not act on behalf of the ambassador in political tasks but leave this area of work to diplomats. However, the protocol is determined to maintain seniorities and attend official ceremonies and celebrations. In general, the protocol determines the seniorities as follows:

If the military attaché is a general, they have the rank of ambassador but are junior to the ambassador appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and heading the embassy. A. If they are a colonel, they have the rank of minister-counselor.

B. If they are a lieutenant colonel/major, they have the rank of counselor.

C. The seniorities of the officers working in the attaché office are as follows:

(1) The rank of captain is equivalent to the rank of first secretary. (2) The rank of lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of second secretary. (3) The rank of first lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of third secretary. (4) The rank of second lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of attaché.

2. Military Liaison Office

It is one of the forms of military representation but at a lower level than the military attaché office. This representation may be established according to natural or exceptional circumstances that the relations between two countries are going through, during which it is agreed that military representation is one of the main offices in the embassy. These circumstances are determined as follows:

A. When diplomatic representation between two countries is limited, and military relations are established between them that require the presence of military officials to activate these relations and execute specific agreed-upon tasks between the political leaderships of the two countries.

B. When diplomatic relations between two countries are severed or limited to the extent of an “Interests Section Office,” there are military obligations that must be fulfilled according to a political agreement between the two countries, so the representation takes the form of a “military liaison office.”

C. Or when diplomatic relations are normal, but the two countries, or one of them, do not desire complete military representation, so they limit it to a “military liaison office.”

The liaison office consists of one officer called the liaison officer, and they have a designated office in the embassy. The embassy organizes the administrative work that enables them to achieve the tasks assigned to them. Or the office is organized in the form of a military attaché office, either reduced or normal, depending on the size of the tasks assigned to it and the number of personnel. In this case, the work of the office aligns with the military attaché office, and the difference is only in the name. The office may be located in the embassy building itself or in a separate location where the country’s flag is raised, and it enjoys diplomatic immunity for the “Interests Section Office.”

Given that the liaison office has a special nature resulting from the circumstances of its establishment, an agreement must be reached between the two countries on the style of work of the office, from the protocol aspects only, such as the uniform of the personnel working in the office and whether wearing the military uniform is allowed or limited to civilian attire, the level of their communications with foreign military attachés in the country, the level of their communications with military departments in the country, the level of representation in official ceremonies and events, whether a separate diplomatic pouch is allocated for the liaison office, and other matters that determine the style of work of the office and help it achieve its tasks without raising suspicions that could hinder its work. It is noted that any restrictions imposed on the liaison officer will have repercussions on the execution of the tasks themselves and, consequently, on the goal of establishing the office. Since the two countries have agreed on this form of military representation between them, they must consider it as a reduced military attaché office and treat it accordingly.

The seniorities between embassy members and liaison office members are organized according to the protocol as determined between the embassy and the military attaché office.

3. Military Advisory Office in the Embassy

It is usually established when there is no military representation at all in the embassy, according to specific political situations or the lack of desire of the two countries to establish military representation between them. Despite this, one of the countries or both see that there are justifiable reasons that require military representation – in some form – to follow up on specific events or accomplish special tasks related to the military aspect.

The military representation in the form of the advisor is either announced and known to the country where the embassy is located or unannounced. In this case, the person with the military rank is appointed to a diplomatic position in the embassy as an affiliate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are appointed to a diplomatic rank equivalent to their military rank and report directly to the country’s ambassador. They send their reports through the embassy’s diplomatic pouch, and the embassy provides them with appropriate administrative capabilities to serve the tasks assigned to them. In this case, they are fully dedicated to the work assigned to them, and the “country’s ambassador” does not assign them any tasks that conflict with the military tasks assigned to them.

According to the level of representation – in this case – the military advisor is prohibited from communicating with military attaché offices in the country openly, as well as prohibited from announcing their military identity or the tasks assigned to them. All their actions and communications are conducted within the form they are appointed in the embassy, which is primarily a diplomat.

4. Military Procurement Office

It is a specialized office established in individual cases without generalization, and it is established by a country that has strong relations with a major country and relies on it for purchasing weapons and equipment used by its armed forces, meaning that these offices are established by countries of medium power in major countries such as (the United States, Russia, France, England). Major countries are given the freedom to establish these offices in countries of medium power.

These offices are subject to special organization imposed by the nature of the dealings and purchases and the extent of military needs and assistance exchanged. The procurement office is either under the command of the military attaché of the country or separate from it, but in all cases, it is subject to the embassy of the country “protocol-wise” and raises its flag. In some cases, its members enjoy diplomatic immunity or carry “mission” passports, according to the agreement signed between the two countries in this field.

The task of the office – usually – is to oversee and execute the armament contracts concluded between the two countries, whether to fulfill financial obligations, test weapons, oversee the shipment of deals, receive them from the supplier and then ship them, and take care of the technical personnel affiliated with the country responsible for receiving and testing weapons and equipment.

In the case of the office being under the military attaché office, all tasks are accomplished according to the military attaché’s planning and under their supervision. If the office is separate, a primary means of coordination must be found between them, and the military attaché office’s diplomatic pouch must be used for the office’s communications sent to its country.

Similarly, administrative needs are either separate and managed directly by the country for the office or managed by the military attaché office if the office is affiliated with it.

5. Military Technical Offices

The classification of these offices varies according to the size and type of mutual cooperation between countries. Most of these offices are temporary, and their task ends with the termination of the protocol signed between the two countries regarding them. They may last for a long time or end after a short period. They have various forms, and we will discuss three types of them:

A. Expert and Advisor Offices: These are the people sent by a country to assist another, and these offices are the primary means of communication between them and their country. They also take care of them, manage their affairs, and organize the methods of work and tasks they perform in the country where they are located.

B. Training Offices: These are offices established by a country of medium power in a major country to oversee the trainees sent to receive military sciences in the major or militarily advanced country. The task of the office is to oversee this training and take care of the trainees, according to the protocol signed between the two countries in this field. The situation of the office in this case is like that of the procurement office, although the duties differ. Temporary training offices are also established during joint training between two countries and on the land of the country conducting the training, to ensure full coordination of joint training projects. The office starts working before the training is executed for an appropriate period and ends after analyzing the training and disseminating the experiences for future benefit in upcoming training or for reorganizing and rearming the armed forces based on these acquired experiences.

C. Technical Exchange Offices: Their task is to oversee the joint research conducted between two countries in an advanced military field, and the most famous of these offices are those established by Israel in the United States, France, Germany, and England to execute joint manufacturing contracts or conduct advanced technological research such as the Arrow missile, Newteles, and nuclear cooperation with South Africa (formerly).

These offices have a special status and are subject to strict confidentiality restrictions to prevent the leakage of the research they oversee.

In general, the various technical offices do not have fixed organizations and are established according to the purposes for which they are created. They usually report directly to the military attaché office and are supervised by the military attaché, within the limits of the orders issued to them by their country regarding the level of intervention and responsibility they have in each field separately. Some offices (especially those related to technology) see some countries as not wanting the military attaché to delve deeply into the level of cooperation or its nature, for fear of leaking some information that could harm the country itself.

As for administrative requirements, the country provides them to these offices through the military attaché office. It is also known that these offices need special levels of security, whether in the work system or the residence of office members, for fear of assassinations or thefts that could be carried out by the intelligence services of opposing countries to fail or learn about the cooperation taking place between the two countries.

All forms of military representation of the country are subject to the same conditions regarding the selection, qualification, and determination of the tasks of the military attaché, taking into account the size of the representation and its importance to the country. Therefore, the presentation of these conditions and tasks will be limited to the military attaché as the primary form of military representation.

6. Military Representation in One Country to Cover Multiple Countries

Economic circumstances in a country or the size of military cooperation between two countries may require reduced military diplomatic representation between them or for one of them. One form of this reduced representation is that the military attaché of the country is accredited in more than one country within one region, with their office established in one of them, and they are accredited according to diplomatic customs in all of them, with their communications with them addressed to their address in the country where they reside. They may have a “reduced” office in each country they are accredited in and conduct work there according to a plan they determine, or they may be content with periodic visits to military institutions in those countries without having offices there.

In the case of their travel between these countries, these travels are considered within the field of work and not as leaving the country of residence. That is, the military attaché does not need to obtain permission from their country or the country where they are accredited to leave. They only need to notify about their travel to the other accredited country, specify the timing, duration of the mission, and means of travel. They enjoy all diplomatic immunities while on the territory of the countries where they are accredited, and these immunities, in their various types, extend to include all members of the military attaché office and their families in all the countries where the military attaché is accredited. Therefore, it is necessary to notify these countries of the names of the members of the military attaché office.

Organization of the Military Attaché Office

The work of the military attaché office is usually characterized by independence, and thus, its administrative organization must be complete so that it relies on itself in managing affairs according to the tasks assigned to the military attaché by their country. In the case of military representation at a level lower than the “attaché office,” it relies on the embassy’s capabilities to secure some of its administrative (not technical) needs, so the organization of the office is proportional to the size of the representation agreed upon between the two countries.

In all cases, the size of the diplomatic mission, including the military attaché office, is usually agreed upon by the two countries during negotiations regarding the exchange of representation. This is stated and mentioned in the protocol specifying the establishment of diplomatic relations between them, and this protocol is amended according to the level of representation between the two countries and any increase or reduction that occurs to it.

Article 37 of the Vienna Convention clarified the classification of members of the diplomatic mission (including the military attaché office) and the extent of their enjoyment of diplomatic immunity.

According to this classification specified by the Vienna Convention, the military attaché office is organized, and its size and number of members vary according to the size of military relations between one country and another, the capabilities of each country in organizing its diplomatic work, and the agreements between the two countries regarding allowing the number of diplomats (military) on its territory, and other regulatory aspects.

The Ideal Composition of the Military Attaché Office

If all capabilities and available circumstances for establishing the office are met, the following organization is the closest to the form of the military attaché office between two countries that have the will to organize military cooperation between them. It is as follows:

1. Diplomatic Positions

A. Military Attaché: They are the head of the attaché office and the person accredited to the military institution of the country where the attaché office is located. They are usually a general or colonel and are the primary person responsible for organizing the work of the attaché office and coordinating between it and the embassy and other technical offices accredited in the country where they work.

B. Assistants to the Military Attaché: Their number is determined according to the size of the tasks assigned to the attaché office, and in most cases, one or two assistants are appointed to the military attaché. However, if there are special military relations between the attaché’s country and the country where the attaché office is located, an assistant attaché is appointed to execute the “technical” tasks assigned to the attaché office, falling under the category of weapon procurement, training, overseeing training missions, or strategic cooperation in a specific field… etc. The duration of the assistant’s tenure in the technical task position is determined according to the duration of the task and ends with its completion.

C. Members of the Military Attaché Office: They are the military and civilian personnel assigned to organize the office work. Their number is determined according to the office’s needs and the diplomatic agreement between the two countries that specifies the size of the diplomatic mission. These members assist the attaché and their assistants in executing the tasks assigned to the military attaché office.

2. Non-Diplomatic Positions

A. Administrators and Technicians

They are the personnel working in the attaché office who execute administrative and technical tasks and organize the administrative, technical, and financial work in the attaché office. They are not diplomats and usually do not carry diplomatic passports, and they are divided into three categories:

(1) Administrators, technicians, and security personnel from the country of the military attaché, and they are granted “mission” passports.

(2) Administrators and technicians from the country where the military attaché office is accredited: The Vienna Convention stipulated the possibility of diplomatic missions employing personnel from the country where the missions are accredited through contracts with a specified duration and terms. In most cases, military attaché offices employ these personnel in translation, secretarial, and public relations positions.

(3) Administrators and technicians from a third country: The attaché office may need to appoint a specific person to take on a specific administrative position with a technical nature that they are more skilled in than others. In this case, the military attaché must notify their country and carefully inquire about the person intended to be appointed, then notify the country where the attaché office is accredited according to diplomatic customs.

B. Special Services

They are the category that performs tasks that assist diplomats in executing their tasks and facilitate matters for them. This category includes drivers, cleaning staff, nannies… etc., and they are either nationals of the attaché’s country, nationals of the country where the attaché office is accredited, or a third country.

3. Office Equipment and Preparation

For the work in the office to be organized, all administrative and technical capabilities must be available to it and at the highest level, in terms of appearance and technology. The office equipment varies to include the following:

A. Attaché Office Building

It is either inside the embassy or independent of it, and in both locations, it must have a good appearance, space for the offices of the personnel, and a location that provides sufficient security, and the establishment of the attaché office must be proportional to the literary status of the attaché because military attachés of other countries will visit them in that building, and its appearance will reflect on the evaluation of the attaché themselves.

B. Attaché’s Residence

The same applies to it as to the attaché office, and it is preferable for the residence to have a garden for hosting celebrations on national and special occasions.

C. Communication Devices

The attaché office must have wireless communication devices with the attaché’s country, as well as sufficient wired communication devices to manage daily affairs, and one of the telephone devices can be equipped with an encryption device connected to the attaché’s country for exchanging confidential calls.

D. Suitable and sufficient information systems devices for writing and storing different information, according to the size of the attaché office’s activity.

E. An internal security system to secure the office against any threats.

F. A fire security system to secure the office against fire hazards.

G. Any other equipment that helps in achieving tasks quickly and easily in the attaché office.

As for the work system in the office, it is subject to the attaché’s style, the system practiced in their country, the experience they have gained throughout their long service, and the attaché’s personality themselves.