Forward operating site

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A forward operating site (FOS) or forward operating location (FOL) is a U.S. military term for facilities, defined as "a scalable, 'warm' facility that can support sustained operations, but with only a small permanent presence of support or contractor personnel as opposed to a FOB or MOB. A FOS will host occasional rotational forces and many contain pre-positioned equipment."^[1] These sites were established as the Pentagon began to address regional threats primarily in Africa and Latin America following its 2004 global posture review.^[2]

An FOS is differentiated from a cooperative security location (CSL) with no permanent force or contractor personnel, or a forward operating base (FOB) and main operating base (MOB), with a large force and a well-defended site.