EconDefense
USC-50 / Security cooperation, assistance and education

Fund confidential operational preparation and nonconventional recovery support

Use Defense-wide O&M for confidential operational preparation or nonconventional assisted recovery, including limited partner equipment, supplies, training, transport, logistical support or funding.

Authority / instrument · USC-50

Confidential operational support

Security cooperation, assistance and education

Statute & instrument
Authority holder

Secretary of Defense

What this does not authorize / hard limit

Up to $40 million annually; expenditures over $250,000 cannot be delegated.

Recorded executor

Authorized special-operations financial office (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 recordedOperation and maintenance, Defense-wide; no new appropriation or authorization to conduct an otherwise unlawful operation. 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-50 · Other statutory tools

Authority holder: Secretary of Defense

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

  • Secretary determination and prescribed legal-review, coordination and oversight procedures; Chief of Mission concurrence for nonconventional recovery spending.

Limits & exclusions

  • Up to $40 million annually; expenditures over $250,000 cannot be delegated.
  • Expressly excludes intelligence, counterintelligence and intelligence-related activities; quarterly briefings and expenditure reporting apply.

Funding conditions

  • Operation and maintenance, Defense-wide; no new appropriation or authorization to conduct an otherwise unlawful operation.

Read the funding and execution guide

Who contributes what

Need & planning

  • Special-operations mission sponsor (illustrative routing lead)

Resources

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

Approval

Execution

  • Authorized special-operations financial office (illustrative; delegation not verified)

Partners & review

  • Chief of Mission
  • ASD(SO/LIC)

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

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 recordedOperation and maintenance, Defense-wide; no new appropriation or authorization to conduct an otherwise unlawful operation. 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 §127f text dated September 16, 2026 corroborates scope and ceiling.

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