To accommodate objectives of cooperation between the United States and Latin America established by President Kennedy in the Alliance for Progress in 1961, the school's curriculum was constructed and reorganized into two departments. The Department of Internal Defense dealt with "national internal defense", while the Counterinsurgency Committee provided counterinsurgency training in ten-week and two-week courses. According to the Department of Defense, the school provided intelligence and counter-intelligence training to "foreign military personnel" under the Mutual Assistance Program. It also trained military police and maintained a close relationship with the Inter-American Police Academy. As part of an effort to emphasize "nation building and economic growth through military civic action," the school taught "technical skills applicable to civic action programs." These skills included bridge building, well-drilling, radio repair, medical technique, and water purification.