News from the Field: U.S. Army Liaison Officer to Spain

By: Lieutenant Colonel Andrew J. Dornstadter, U.S. Army

A U.S. Army soldier trains with Spanish forces in Spain. U.S. Army photo, public domain

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of War or the U.S. Government. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of War (DoW) of the linked websites, or the information, products, or services contained therein. The DoW does not exercise editorial, security, or other control over the information you may find at these locations. Review of this material does not imply DoW endorsement of factual accuracy or opinion.

Editor’s Note: Article updated 29 October, 2025 to reflect establishment of U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command (T2COM), which integrated U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC), and U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) that occurred between article submission and publication.

Introduction

In March 2025, former FAO Jeff Jager wrote a thorough overview for the FAO Association Journal on the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Liaison Officer (LNO) program. [Editor’s Note, Jeff Jager article available at: The U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Liaison Officer Program] That article motivated me and other current LNO teammates of mine to consider sharing a few of our own unique perspectives. As Jeff explained, we are assigned all over the world both inside foreign armies and in our own Army Service Component Command (ASCC) headquarters, each with their own ideas about how the LNO delivers value. Some of us have more holistic roles reaching across our armies, which is true here in Madrid and for my counterparts in Rome and Andover, United Kingdom (UK). Some are more focused on emerging capabilities, like my teammates in Cologne and in Paris. Others focus on strong training, doctrine, and professional development linkages, which seems true for LNOs in Tokyo, Canberra, Ottawa, and Warminster, UK. These are not inflexible truths, and things change, but our different LNO roles as they are today demonstrate that each LNO’s activities and relationships can vary widely from place to place.

U.S. Army Liaison Recap

Here is a quick refresher on where we are and why our positions exist. Shortly after World War II, the American, British, and Canadian Armies established the “ABC” Agreement to facilitate information exchange and coordination between the three, based on lessons learned during the war, and thus our program began. The U.S. Army hosted its first foreign liaison officers (FLOs) from Canada and the UK at the former Continental Army Command Headquarters based at Fort Monroe, Virginia – a predecessor to TRADOC and U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). Decades later, the U.S. Army’s liaison activity has expanded dramatically.

The U.S. Army hosts FLOs at every Army Command (ACOM), ASCC, and inside many subordinate units and organizations. Following the October 2025 merger of TRADOC, U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC), and U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) into the new U.S. Army Transformation and Training Command (T2COM), the largest single concentration of FLOs is at T2COM’s HQ in Fort Eustis, Virginia, which hosts 18 FLOs from 17 countries. Across its organizations like the Centers of Excellence (COEs) and Combined Arms Command (CAC), T2COM hosts another 52 FLOs. T2COM likewise provides 17 U.S. LNOs to eleven foreign armies and to every ASCC. U.S. LNOs to foreign armies serve with our closest and most capable allies to support strategic engagements between our leaders, enhance interoperability, and enable broad security cooperation activity. U.S. Army LNOs serve in these foreign armies: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Türkiye, and United Kingdom (two LNOs).

Spain Focus

The U.S. and Spanish Armies established reciprocal liaison officer positions in 1989, with the Spanish officer originally serving at TRADOC HQ, first at Fort Monroe and then at TRADOC and T2COM at Fort Eustis. The U.S. officer served in Spain’s T2COM counterpart, MADOC, in Granada until 2016 before moving to Spanish Army HQ in Madrid. The Spanish and U.S. Armies met for their first bilateral army staff talks (AST) in 1987 and formalized the program through 1989. For the U.S. side, the Spain AST was first executed by TRADOC, then elevated to Headquarters Department of the Army (HQDA) in the early 2000s, and delegated to TRADOC again since 2016 and now to T2COM. Spain also provides FLOs to HQDA (since 2024) and U.S. Army Europe-Africa (USAREUR-AF, since 2019).

The Spanish Army

Like any LNO to a foreign army – and like most FAOs serving in a country team assignment – this job has offered incredible access through doors flung open by a welcoming host. My own Spanish Army hosts have shown me every courtesy, welcomed my participation in many presentations, ceremonies, planning collaborations, and other events and visits, and amused themselves in goading me to try unique Spanish foods and drinks (look up “orujo” and “pacharán”) and go to under-the-radar places only the locals know. As any FAO will agree, moments like those segue into private conversations, and those tend to present me with a much richer appreciation of Spanish culture and history, especially appreciating its blended identities. Like the U.S., Spain is a melting pot – albeit a smaller and much older pot – and the Spanish Army reflects both its nation’s diversity and the importance of history in every Spanish Soldier’s mind.

Identity and History

The Spanish Army collectively feels enormous pride for its own deep history, but even more so for its particular role in deciding many of the most important moments in European and world history. Spain has one of the world’s oldest standing armies, with many units dating to between the 13^th and 16^th centuries. Spain’s Infantry Regiment “Inmemorial del Rey” No. 1 is the oldest military unit in continuous operation on earth, dating to 1248, and to this day that unit secures the Spanish Army Headquarters in Madrid. Several of the Spanish “Tercio” formations, which famously dominated European warfare five hundred years ago, now survive as infantry regiments in Spanish Army maneuver brigades, at permanent Spanish Army posts in the enclaves in North Africa, and as a special operations group. The Army’s own Institute of Military History and Culture and its Geographic Archive are charged with preserving records, letters, artefacts, and maps dating back to the beginning of the Reconquista in the 700s and to the discovery of the New World.

Spain’s control over much of the Western Hemisphere for centuries figures powerfully in the Spanish memory. That and Spanish support – alongside France – to the Continental Army in the American Revolution shape Spain’s enduring influence and warm relationships throughout most of North and South America today. In a moving tribute in June 2025, Spanish King Felipe VI presented a commemorative saber to the U.S. Army in Madrid to celebrate our 250^th birthday, marking both early Spanish friendship with our American nation and Spain’s gratitude to the U.S. Army for the bilateral relationship’s recent renaissance.

Spain’s loss of control over its vast empire during the 1800s figures just as powerfully in memory, but Spain also derives pride and confidence from its reemergence and recovery. Spain survived existential threats and crises such as the Peninsular War under French occupation (1808-1814), defeat in the Spanish-American War (1898), their own Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), and Spain’s initial isolation under Francisco Franco’s regime during and after World War II. The Spanish Army had roles for better and worse in all these impactful periods and counts them all as important to its actual identity, pleasant or not. The deep history, glorious past, survival mentality, and commitment to the mission and nation all drive the Spanish Army to maintain an exceptionally high level of professionalism and remain prepared and adaptive to defend Spain and its allies.

The Modern Spanish Army

Today Spain paces Europe’s largest, most modern, and most capable armies. With a population of roughly 75,000 active troops, many would be surprised to learn that the Spanish Army is larger than Germany’s and the United Kingdom’s, and is smaller than France’s and Italy’s. Like most allies, Spain will grow its force size in coming years and continue to increase defense investment, based especially on the perception of Russia as the most acute threat to NATO. The Spanish Army is responsible for the homeland defense of peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and Spain’s enclaves in North Africa.

Like the U.S. Army, the Spanish Army divides itself between force generation – or Support Force – and force employment – or Operational Force. In the Operational Force, Spain maintains a High Readiness Corps HQ (normally supporting NATO), two division HQs, ten maneuver and special purpose brigades, several units dedicated to territorial defense, and all maneuver support and fires capabilities. In the Support Force, the Spanish Army has a Personnel Command (MAPER), Logistics Support Command (MALE), and the aforementioned MADOC. Most troop deployments come from the operational force, but individuals and small organizations deploy from across the entire Army.

Differing from the U.S. Army, Spanish Army brigades are commanded by brigadier generals, and their next standard subordinate echelon is the regiment, commanded by colonels. Brigades tend to have two to three subordinate maneuver regiments along with battalions or battalion-sized “groups” of artillery, engineers, and logistics. A Spanish Army maneuver regiment usually has just one or possibly two subordinate maneuver battalions, which tend to be smaller than U.S. battalions.

The Spanish Army maintains enduring forward deployments defending NATO eastern flank allies in Latvia, Slovakia, and Türkiye. In July 2024, Spain became the NATO Framework Nation (FN) for Forward Land Forces (FLF) in Slovakia, growing the battle group there from battalion-sized to brigade. Spain’s Army also sustains other enduring deployments under NATO, European Union (EU), and United Nations (UN) banners. Spain recently commanded NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) and still commands the UN Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Spain led the last EU training mission in Mali before that ended in 2024 and continues deploying troops to Somalia and Central African Republic (CAR).

The U.S.-Spain Bilateral Army Relationship

Like ours, Spain’s Army is undergoing a major transformation, equipping itself with modern weapons, communications systems, vehicles, new technologies, and magazine depth at a challenging pace. They can relate to the stress of balancing real-world political and industrial demands with requirements emerging from battlefields in places like Ukraine and Palestine. Nevertheless, their plans are largely on track, including the creation of an impressive new state-of-the-art sustainment base in southern Spain they expect to support both Spanish and multinational use for future maintenance, supply, and pre-positioned stocks.

The Spanish Army’s relationship with the U.S. Army is robust and has grown dramatically since 2021, and the U.S. LNO role has played an important role in that growth along three key lines of effort (LOEs): (1) strategic engagement, (2) interoperability, and (3) security cooperation. The U.S. LNO to Spain effectively liaises between HQDA, T2COM, USAREUR-AF, the U.S. embassy, Spanish Army HQ, and MADOC.

Army Staff Talks

The U.S.-Spain AST is the primary mechanism guiding bilateral Army activities. The AST develops bilateral agreed-to-actions (ATAs) along the same three LOEs mentioned above. The U.S. LNO is the primary planner, program manager, and point of contact (POC) of the AST on the U.S. side. The U.S.-Spain AST meets roughly every 18 months, alternating between locations in the U.S. and Spain. The U.S. delegation is usually led by a major general and includes members and subject matter experts from HQDA, T2COM, USAREUR-AF, and the U.S. embassy. Since 2021, U.S.-Spain ASTs have reoriented from doctrine-focused topics to warfighting, interoperability, experimentation, and modernization.

Strategic Engagement

The U.S. LNO works closely with the U.S. embassy and various U.S. Army and Spanish Army organizations to develop, shape, and support senior leader engagements (SLEs) year-round. The LNO’s closest partners in this LOE are the Army Attaché (ARMA) in the embassy’s Defense Attaché Office (DAO), counterparts in the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC), and desk officers at HQDA, T2COM, and USAREUR-AF. SLEs usually happen during bilateral visits, multinational conferences, and defense industry shows.

Spanish and U.S. Army senior leaders interact regularly during visits to each other’s HQs and training centers and during ASTs. The Spanish Army hosts two to three visits by U.S. Army 3- and 4-star general officers (GOs) in Spain each year, and the Spanish Army Chief (JEME) has made several visits to USAREUR-AF HQ. In 2024, U.S. Army Chief GEN George hosted the JEME’s trip to multiple U.S. Army sites – including HQDA, AFC HQ, Arlington National Cemetery, Fort Bragg, Carlisle Barracks, and West Point – for a counterpart visit (CPV), which was a special testament to the bilateral relationship’s momentum and a gesture extended to few close partners and allies each year.

The JEME and other Spanish Army GOs attend multiple conferences that enable further engagements with U.S. and foreign senior counterparts, such as the Conference of European Armies (CEA); Conference of American Armies (CAA); African Land Forces Summit (ALFS); the AUSA Annual Meeting in Washington; the AUSA LANDEURO Expo in Germany; and Spain’s annual FEINDEF defense industry show in Madrid. The CEA in July 2025, for example, enabled engagements between the JEME, CSA, CG USAREUR-AF, and several other U.S. senior leaders in Europe. These SLEs are usually connected to AST ATAs, either driving them or realizing their goals.

Interoperability and Security Cooperation

The U.S. LNO works primarily with USAREUR-AF and T2COM in these areas. Traditionally, most of the U.S.-Spanish Army interoperability effort progresses through information exchange between our T2COM enterprises, especially between organizations focused on doctrine and lessons learned, our respective COEs and academies, and our combat training centers. The U.S. and Spanish liaison officers routinely pass back new products and publications from our host armies to inform our own transformation efforts. Spain contributed to a U.S. Army-led Ukraine Lessons Learned Sprint in 2024 and feverishly updates its own doctrine and standards to keep pace with the U.S. Army’s Transformation-in-Contact (TiC) program.

More recently, the futures enterprises have begun playing an important role in interoperability, too, both in aligning the adoption of future equipment and system capabilities, and in generating a much larger set of cooperative opportunities. Spain recently emerged as a capable participant in AFC’s Project Convergence Capstone (PCC) event series, though T2COM’s establishment may create unknown changes to that program. And as an experimentation driver within USAREUR-AF, 7^th Army Training Command (7ATC) is becoming a closer partner with Spain, exploring how Spain can contribute to the theater’s experimentation and combined exercises in the contexts of TiC and NATO’s deterrence of Russia along the Eastern Flank.

Combined Training Conferences

The U.S. LNO works with Spanish Army exercise planners and training center managers to shape Spain’s attendance and presentations during USAREUR-AF’s Combined Training Conferences (CTCs) and Conference of European Training Centers (CETC). Through these venues, the U.S. LNO has enabled increased Spanish participation at higher echelons in USAREUR-AF’s Defender exercises. Where Spain previously participated at brigade-level and below, its new norm is contributing brigade, division, and corps-level capabilities. In 2023, a Spanish Army division HQ served as higher control (HICON) for the USAREUR-AF’s Swift Response exercise, the first non-U.S. state ever to do that. In 2024, the Spanish Army’s NATO Rapid Deployable Corps (NRDC-Spain) HQ supported the Avenger Triad exercise for the first time and will do it again in future iterations. The U.S. LNO has also helped open Spanish Army training centers for expanded U.S. Army use, especially for experimentation with emerging technologies (UAS, c-UAS, EW, robotics, etc.) and in well-developed facilities for specialized training in urban, desert, wooded, mountain, and underground environments.

Bilateral Training and Exercise Conference

Every year the Spanish Ministry of Defense hosts the Bilateral Training and Exercise Conference (BTEC) at the Spanish National Center of Defense Studies (CESEDEN) in Madrid, a parallel to the U.S. National War College or Army War College. BTEC includes eight syndicates or working groups focused on different domains and themes such as land, air, maritime, cyber, etc. The land syndicate is the largest, developing roughly 40 bilateral joint training and exercise events each year, making up roughly half of all events across all syndicates. The U.S. LNO co-leads the land syndicate with a Spanish Army counterpart on behalf of the Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) and U.S. embassy. These interoperability enhancing events occur inside Spanish territory at the company level and below.

Conclusion, Reflections

Finishing two years in the assignment and with one more to go, I first ask myself whether I’d do the job again. Unequivocally, yes. Many of the personal benefits and opportunities to create rich cultural experiences in Spain are perhaps obvious, but the professional benefit of a much closer relationship with my own army has also proven true. That is because liaising demands an immediate familiarity with both your sending and receiving organizations. It is a reality that lands on your face the first time a foreign defense minister or general officer asks you something you don’t know about your own army, or likewise when your own knowledge doesn’t satisfy a visiting U.S. senior leader’s curiosity. The urgency to be up-to-date and familiar for senior audiences forced me to become deeply knowledgeable with both the Spanish and U.S. armies, and I’m undoubtedly and routinely better-informed about the U.S. Army than I would be in so many other joint-interagency-intergovernmental-multinational (JIIM) FAO jobs. It’s an excellent opportunity to “re-green” and pay back some direct value to the military service branch that gave me the opportunity to be an Army FAO in the first place.

My next reflection is on which areas to sustain or improve my performance as an LNO. I was most successful at driving Spanish Army commitments to support U.S. Army goals – especially in warfighting and transformation efforts – recognizing there is obvious mutual value to the Spanish Army, too. But I have been largely calibrating my sensors toward existing requirements and 50- or 100-meter targets expected in the next two or three years, and not as interested in opportunities deeper in the future. This may be a perennial feeling among LNOs, and I suspect my own predecessors in Madrid felt the same way. Maybe I can do a bit more of that in my final year.

Recalling Jeff Jager’s article, I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment of LNO key attributes. As with any FAO job or similar assignment where we are relatively alone as American officials in a foreign setting, we must be mindful that we represent our Army, our Department of War, the U.S. interagency, and our nation all the time. The impressions we make early are likely to last beyond our own assignments and can affect our successors and other U.S. teammates and their missions, for better or worse. Jeff described it more thoroughly in his article, but I will highlight here that our services’ guidance to us about professional expectations has an enduring and relevant value that still rings true whether in a tactical unit, on a staff, or out in the JIIM world of the FAO and LNO.

The U.S. Army’s guidance – about attributes like our character, presence, and intellect, and our demonstrated ability to lead, develop, and achieve results – still works. We need to be good teammates and demonstrate healthy values and judgment. We need to be technically competent, knowing our organizations, roles, standards, processes, and our leadership’s vision and direction. We need to be physically fit and show care for our appearance in and out of uniform. We need to show respect to our hosts and counterparts by using customs and courtesies correctly. As FAOs, we need to preserve our unique foreign language capability. We must employ the tools of our craft, communicate well, and harness our valuable personal and professional experience. We must seek continuous improvement for ourselves and our teams. We need to be dependable, and we need to get results. With these attributes, LNOs succeed in enhancing our relationships with partners and allies and extracting value for the U.S. Army across the tactical-operational-strategic spectrum. Without them, the opposite is true.

Our team of 17 LNOs is out there hustling in eleven foreign armies and every ASCC. We adapt and tailor our missions wherever we go. My experience in Spain has been remarkably enjoyable and productive. I welcome any outreach from our FAO community, and I hope we get more “News from the Field” articles from my LNO teammates that share their unique embedded observations from around the globe.

About the Author

Lieutenant Colonel Drew Dornstadter, U.S. Army, is a Europe-Eurasia FAO and engineer officer currently serving as the U.S. Army and T2COM LNO to the Spanish Army Headquarters in Madrid, Spain. His previous FAO assignments were at Headquarters Department of the Army Staff International Affairs in the Pentagon (2021-23), Army and Special Operations Programs Chief and Deputy Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at U.S. Embassy The Hague in the Netherlands (2019-21), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Washington, DC (2016-18), and in-region training at U.S. Embassy Bratislava in Slovakia (2013-14). As an engineer officer, he deployed three times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.

He holds degrees from the U.S. Military Academy (BS, Economics), Missouri University of Science and Technology (MS, Engineering Management), and Columbia University (MA, European History). He speaks Spanish and Slovak with further capabilities in French, Italian, Czech, and Portuguese.