Twenty-nine internationals and two U.S. Army participants completed DIILS second Legal Aspects of Defense Support of Civil Authorities (LADSCA) course on 6 August 2015.  The three week LADSCA course promotes the participants’ ability to engage in defense support of civil authorities (DSCA) in a manner that is consistent with democratic rule of law, protection of human rights and reasonable use of force.  The participants learned about the U.S. approach to DSCA and contrasted their national approach to that of the U.S. and other countries participating in the course.

The LADSCA course illustrates the application of  basic principles of international law to operational settings, including internal armed conflict, narcotics trafficking, border security, cyber-attacks, natural disasters, pandemic and mass casualty events, domestic terrorism, special events security and detention operations.  Throughout the course, interagency cooperation and clear legal authorities are emphasized.  Web-based exercises encouraged participants to discover potential areas for further development in their own national approach to DSCA, and a comprehensive multi-day planning exercise helped participants prepare to join global efforts to respond to a notional pandemic, such as Ebola.

Select LADSCA participants presented case studies on the use of the military in response to civil disturbance, cyber-attack, terrorist insurgency, natural disaster and organized crime in their respective countries.  The next LADSCA course (MASL P176042) is scheduled 25 July – 11 August 2016.

The participant comments on the LADSCA course reflect a positive experience and impact:

• “[The LADSCA faculty are] engaging experienced specialists who have profound experience in the field and an interactive way of conducting the course.”
• “[One of the strengths of the LADSCA course is the] cultural program that introduced the 'American experience'.” 
• “In my work, I will look to see if my action is in accordance with the law.”