Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning (briefly known as Fort Moore) in Columbus, Georgia. The school was renamed in the 2001 National Defense Authorization Act.

The institute was founded in 1946; by the year 2000, more than 60,000 Latin American military, law enforcement, and security personnel had attended the school. The school was located in the Panama Canal Zone until its expulsion in 1984.

When the institute was still known as the School of the Americas it had what it described as a 'Hall of Fame' honoring its most accomplished alumni. It included Bolivian dictator Gen. Hugo Banzer Suárez, drug lord and dictator Manuel Noriega, and Guatemalan General Manuel Antonio Callejas y Callejas.

As part of the U.S. Army's restructuring initiated in December 2025, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) is aligning with the newly created United States Army Western Hemisphere Command (USAWHC). This shift integrates regional security training, education, and partnerships under a single four-star command designed to enhance theater security cooperation and operational focus across the hemisphere.