EconDefense
INT-24 / Security cooperation, assistance and education

Provide civilian humanitarian and civic support with military operations

Perform limited medical/veterinary care, rudimentary public works, water/sanitation and related assistance serving basic civilian needs; broader humanitarian assistance has a separate funding pathway.

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At a glance

Possible toolINT-24 · Other statutory tools
Legal basis10 U.S.C. § 401

Authority holder: Military Department Secretary under §401 regulations and Secretary of State approval; SecDef for §2561.

Other statutory tools

Mechanism tags describe the source text; they do not expand the authority.

Availability and verification

Existing statutory pathway; conditional on the listed findings, approvals, eligible purpose and actual available funds. Not an obligation-ready certification.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • §401 activities in conjunction with authorized military operations and promote both U.S./host security and operational-readiness skills.
  • Complement rather than duplicate other U.S. social/economic assistance.
  • §2561 notice before programs over $5m, with narrow 48-hour extraordinary-circumstances alternative.

Limits & exclusions

  • §401 may not directly or indirectly aid groups engaged in military/paramilitary activity.
  • Not unrestricted development aid; separate statutory purposes and fund sources must be identified.

Funding conditions

  • §401 direct expenses require purpose-specific appropriations; other O&M only incidental costs.
  • §2561 humanitarian amounts as actually authorized/appropriated; no-year treatment only to extent appropriation permits.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Geographic or functional CCMD security-cooperation planners
    Office profile
  • Embassy SCO and Chief of Mission country team

Resources

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense or documented authorized delegate
    Office profile
  • Secretary of State where required

Execution

  • Service engineering/medical forces and designated implementers
  • DSCA humanitarian-assistance program offices

Partners & review

  • Foreign partner government
  • Department of State
  • Export-control/foreign-disclosure officials

Office links are editorial matches to the original role text, not verified delegations. Composite labels and unmatched actors are preserved.

Coordination pathway

CCMD/SCO civilian need → State and DSCA humanitarian coordination → choose §401/2561 and readiness/purpose finding → funded implementer.

Actor and execution-role sources

Legal basis

What this research establishes

Legal powerSource and conditions recorded
EligibilityProject-specific check needed
Available fundsBalances not verified
DelegationValid signature authority must be checked
ExecutionOffice capacity and approvals must be checked

Confidence: High on express statutory capability; execution/delegation and currently available resources require program-specific confirmation.

Currentness: GovInfo 2024 U.S. Code baseline read; relevant FY2026 NDAA (Pub. L. 119-60, enacted 2025-12-18) amendments reviewed. Target 2026-10-02; source-specific OLRC checks and remaining delta are documented in international.md. No certification of current funds or executed delegations.

Research target: October 2, 2026. A record-specific last-review date is not supplied. Publication date is not legal-currentness certification.

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