U.S. ARMY WESTERN HEMISPHERE INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY COOPERATION FLASH AND/OR OVAL

us army western hemisphere institute for security cooperation flash and oval

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) was established in 2001 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It is the successor organization to the School of the Americas, which was originally founded in 1946 at Fort Gulick in the former Panama Canal Zone. The school offered courses for Latin American armed forces that combined military training with the promotion of democratic principles and human rights. For more than a decade the curricula focused on nation-building, but in 1961 President John F. Kennedy shifted the focus of instruction to aid countries in Latin America in quashing armed communist uprisings and insurgencies.

The School of the Americas was expelled from Panama in 1984 and moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1989, with the collapse of the former Soviet Union heralding an end to a good portion of armed communist movements, the school’s focus switch to support general U.S. policy goals, especially respect for the rule of law and economic development based on free market concepts.

In 2001, the School of the Americans was reborn as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Today, its programs and courses center on peace support, counterdrug operations, and leadership development, as well as preparation for natural or manmade disasters and relief-planning strategies. As of Autumn 2023, the organization remains headquartered at Fort Moore, the designation for Fort Benning as of October 2023.

Related Items
Western Hemisphere Institute For Security Cooperation Patch (SSI)
Western Hemisphere Institute For Security Cooperation Unit Crest (DUI)

Type

Price

$5.39

Quantity

USPHS

Merchant Marine

AUXILIARY

U.S. ARMY WESTERN HEMISPHERE INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY COOPERATION FLASH AND/OR OVAL