ODC meaning in Military and Defence ?

United States Security Assistance Organizations (SAOs) are Federal Government of the United States military and civilian personnel stationed in foreign countries to manage security assistance and other military programs. SAOs are closest to these programs' operation and have the closest contact with host-country militaries.

SAOs, part of the Department of Defense, go by different names in different countries. These names include Military Groups (MILGROUPs), Military Assistance and Advisory Groups (MAAGs), Military Liaison Offices (MLOs), Offices of the Defense Representative (ODRs), Offices of Security Cooperation (OSC) (one example is the Office of Defense Cooperation Turkey), and the Office of Military Cooperation (OMC). The Office of Security Cooperation - Iraq, part of the larger Embassy of the United States, Baghdad after the 2011 U.S. withdrawal held the remaining DOD support personnel, totalling about 1,000 contractors and about 147 DOD uniformed personnel. It operated from ten locations around Iraq, and managed about 370 Foreign Military Sales cases, totaling more than US $9 billion of pending arms sales, citing a February 2012 Congressional Research Service report. The biggest program underway was the much-delayed sale of 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters. The Office of the Defense Representative, Pakistan, was the Islamabad presence.

In general, they are not to be confused with defense attachés, who normally play a more diplomatic role. Many U.S. Embassies have both defense attachés and SAOs.

There are also non-DOD entities carrying out similar activities. The Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs runs the Global Defense Reform Program (GDRP), amongst others.