EconDefense
USC-49 / Security cooperation, assistance and education

Support partners facilitating authorized special-operations irregular warfare

Provide funding or other support to foreign forces, groups, or individuals supporting ongoing, authorized irregular-warfare operations by U.S. special operations forces.

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Authority / instrument · USC-49

Irregular-warfare partner support

Security cooperation, assistance and education

Statute & instrument
Authority holder

Secretary of Defense, with concurrence of the relevant Chief of Mission

What this does not authorize / hard limit

Not authority to conduct covert action, introduce forces into hostilities, or undertake otherwise unauthorized military operations.

Recorded executor

Authorized special-operations support and financial offices (illustrative; delegation not verified)

Continue to actor →

Recorded executing role; this record-specific route is not an additional institutional office.

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedAnnual DoD operation-and-maintenance amounts; authority alone supplies no appropriation. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram unverifiedAdded in the October 5 statutory review; no current implementing program, intake or individual delegation verified.

Public evidence describes the institution and instrument; it is not approval of an individual transaction.

At a glance

Possible toolUSC-49 · Other statutory tools

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense, with concurrence of the relevant Chief of Mission

Other statutory tools

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

Availability and verification

Statutory-review addition. Current program implementation, intake, available funds, and individual signing authority have not been verified.

Requirements and limits

Eligibility & prerequisites

  • Support must facilitate ongoing and authorized U.S. SOF irregular warfare; follow prescribed vetting, legal-review, notification and reporting procedures.
  • Secretary funding authority is nondelegable; 15-day advance notice applies to initiation and changes meeting the lower of $500,000 or 10% funding threshold.

Limits & exclusions

  • Annual ceiling $20 million from DoD operation-and-maintenance funds.
  • Not authority to conduct covert action, introduce forces into hostilities, or undertake otherwise unauthorized military operations.
  • Statutory irregular warfare means activities not involving armed conflict; support cannot violate the laws of armed conflict.

Funding conditions

  • Annual DoD operation-and-maintenance amounts; authority alone supplies no appropriation.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • USSOCOM or geographic command sponsor (illustrative routing lead)
    Office profile

Resources

  • Cognizant component comptroller; account and available balance unverified
    Office profile

Approval

  • Secretary of Defense, with concurrence of the relevant Chief of Mission
    Office profile

Execution

  • Authorized special-operations support and financial offices (illustrative; delegation not verified)

Partners & review

  • Chief of Mission
  • Department of State

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

Coordination pathway

Mission sponsor → component counsel and comptroller → required statutory findings and approvals → authorized execution office. Routing is illustrative; verify delegation and available funds.

Actor and execution-role sources

October 5 statutory review

Added in the October 5 statutory coverage review. The cited legal mechanism and its conditions were examined; a current implementing program, intake, funding balance and individual delegation were not verified.

Section coverage and review findings

Legal basis

  • 10 U.S.C. § 127dOfficial 2024 Code operative text read; see record currentness for later-law checks.

What this research establishes

Legal basisSources linkedLegal sources and instrument limits are recorded.
RequirementsGates recordedRead the requirements for this instrument; applicability depends on the proposed action.
Public fundingRules recordedAnnual DoD operation-and-maintenance amounts; authority alone supplies no appropriation. Office budget figures are separate institutional context, not an allocation to this instrument.
Assigned rolesRoles recordedPublic sources describe institutional authority. The instrument identifies approval and execution roles; a specific signature remains transaction-dependent.
EngagementProgram unverifiedAdded in the October 5 statutory review; no current implementing program, intake or individual delegation verified.

Confidence: High on the cited statutory mechanism; no implementation or obligation-ready certification.

Currentness: Reviewed 2026-10-05 against full official GovInfo 2024 Code text and a targeted P.L. 119-60 reference sweep. Official OLRC indexed text used where accessible; direct OLRC pages returned maintenance or access errors. No comprehensive later-law certification or current funding/delegation verification. OLRC indexed §127d text dated September 15, 2026 corroborates the operative authority.

Review scope: Record reviewed 2026-10-05. Publication is not legal-currentness certification.

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