U.S. Air Force Combat Aviation Advisors assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command conducted a three-month long training event with members of the Kenyan Air Force. This video depicts scenes from a culmination exercise that showcases the wide range of capabilities of the C-145A Combat Coyote aircraft. This light mobility aircraft is used for a variety of missions to include airdrop of supplies, medical evacuation, combat search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief operations, and transport of personnel and equipment. The aircraft was originally procured in 2009 to conduct non-standard aviation special air mobility missions. In 2010, AFSOC selected the C-145A to be operated primarily by CAAs.

U.S. Air Force video by Senior Airman Victoria Hadden, May 29, 2021, 3 minutes. Originally published by the Defense Visual Information Distribution System.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7diCEtkEUc

The 54th Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) was formally activated by the U.S. Army during an official ceremony at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on March 5, 2020.

The establishment of the 54th SFAB has been in progress for over a year. The uncasing and display of the command and brigade colors marked the beginning of the unit’s history and lineage. The keynote speaker at the ceremony was General Michael Garrett – the commanding general of the United States Army Forces command.

The 54th SFAB is an Army National Guard unit composed of a brigade headquarters and six battalions. The brigade has units in Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, and Florida. The 54th SFAB headquarters is part of the Indiana National Guard.

Mission. The mission of an SFAB is to carry out train, advise, and assist (TAA) missions with foreign nation military partners. Along with the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, the SFABs are the U.S. Army’s permanent and dedicated organizations specifically trained in the combat advisory role. The SFABs do not do the full range of missions assigned to Special Forces – such as counterterrorism (CT), direct action (DA), special reconnaissance (SR), unconventional warfare (UW), and other SOF missions.

Active Duty SFABs. The active Army has established five Security Force Assistance Brigades. The 1st SFAB completed a tour in Afghanistan in late 2018. The 2nd SFAB completed an Afghan tour in 2019. The 3rd SFAB is currently deployed to Afghanistan and a small element of the 3rd SFAB is in Iraq. Smaller elements of the SFABs have deployed to other locations around the world. The 4th and 5th SFABs are currently training up and are projected to deploy worldwide – most likely to the Pacific and Africa regions.

Training. Most members of the 54th must pass an assessment and selection process. Those personnel assigned to an advisor position attend the Combat Advisor Training Course at the Military Advisor Training Academy (MATA), Fort Benning. In addition, SFAB soldiers receive training on foreign weapons systems, driving, SERE, and medical subjects. SFAB soldiers also receive language and cultural training.

Unit Training. The national guard units in the individual states are conducting training events throughout the year. A typical training event is described in a November 2019 article published on DVIDS by the Georgia National Guard. Read “Georgia Guard’s 1-54th SFAB Conducts Team Assessment at Fort Benning, Georgia”, DVIDS, Nov 15, 2019.

OCONUS Missions. Some of the SFAB guard units have gotten an early start. Members of the Florida SFAB units deployed in the summer of 2019 to the Dominican Republic and trained up soldiers of Caribbean nations during a recent Tradewinds exercise. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 54th SFAB (Florida) completed a five day exchange in the Commonwealth of Domica where they worked with the Dominica Police Force on tactics and techniques for policing operations and crime scene investigation.

Volunteers. The National Guard SFAB is accepting volunteers for advisor and non-advisor positions. The applicants for advisor positions are interviewed by commanders and senior NCOs. There is an assessment and selection process that applicants must pass. This consists of physical fitness tests, interviews, and other selection events. Learn more on how to become a National Guard SFAB combat advisor.

**********

References:

54th Security Force Assistance Brigade, SOF News, January 30, 2019
http://www.sof.news/sfa/54th-sfab/

54th Security Force Assistance Brigade Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/54SFAB/

Security Force Assistance Command (SFAC)
https://home.army.mil/bragg/index.php/units-tenants/SFAC

Photo: A Soldier from the Florida Army National Guard Security Forces Assistance Brigade (SFAB) advises a Haitian Soldier on the proper handling technique of a shotgun during Tradewinds 2019, at Las Calderas Naval Base, Dominican Republic. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Leia D. Tascarini, June 2019).

Dr. Richard D. Newton, an operational planner at the Special Operations Command Africa, has written a paper about Defense Institution Building (DIB). He describes how DIB helps “. . . to enhance the capacity of allies and partners to sustainably man, train, equip, and independently employ their own military and security forces in support of common strategic interests.

The author notes that Security Force Assistance (SFA), Foreign Internal Defense (FID), and Joint/Combined Exchange Training (JCETS) have a long history in the U.S. special operations community. However, he points out that these missions are often not effective in achieving paradigm shifts that cause organizational transformation.

In his 30-page paper, Dr. Newton describes the purpose of Defense Institution Building and how it is different from SFA, FID, and JCETs. The paper reviews the history of DIB, current literature on DIB, relevant doctrinal publications, and challenges to DIB programs.

He then goes on to recommend taking a design-thinking approach for “designing, developing, and implementing a sustainable DIB partnership with a willing nation.” Newton offers as an example the case study of the transformation of Romania’s special operations forces – which was a priority effort for the Special Operations Command Europe.

In the post 9/11 environment U.S. SOF was focused more at the tactical level (advising combat units) than at the national level (institution building). The author has seen a slow change in approach since 2010 – with an increased focus towards security cooperation intent on institution building. The author concludes his paper with . . . “Since 2015, design-thinking has offered SOF planners and commanders a practical tool for problem-solving in the human domain.”

Defense Institution Building . . . by Design
By Richard D. Newton, Ph.D.
Joint Special Operations University (JSOU)
Department of Strategic Studies
JSOU Press – Occasional Paper
December 2019
https://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=51643902

Bio of Dr. Newton. Richard Newton has a long history in the special operations community. He served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force as a combat rescue and special operations helicopter pilot; as well as a combat aviation advisor, planner, and educator. Newton continued his service in the SOF community as a senior faculty member at the Joint Special Operations University. He is an educator, planner, researcher, and curriculum developer in the fields of air-ground integration, irregular and asymmetric warfare, and special operations.

The Marine Corps Advisor Company or MCAC is a new unit that has been established to provide trained and capable military advisors to work with foreign militaries and security forces of partner nations. The MCAC units will focus exclusively on training, equipping, and deploying military advisor teams that will operate around the world.

Eventually there will be four Marine Corps Advisor Companies. The first two MCACs – part of the Marine Corps reserves – were formally activated on June 7, 2019 at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (JBAB) – MCAC Alpha and MCAC Bravo. Both MCACs will provide Marine Corps Advisor Teams (MCATs) to conduct the Security Force Assistance mission with partner nation militaries at or above the brigade level.

Marines who are assigned to the MCACs will attend the four-week long Marine Advisor Course at the Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group (MCSCG). the MCSCG carries out foreign military training and cooperation as well as training Marine advisors in culture, foreign weapons handling, force protection, and other advisor skills. The MCSCG was stood up in 2012.

In addition, the Marine advisors will conduct unit training and attend military schools that increase their skills – such as shooting, communicating, and battlefield survival. Advisory skills such as knowing the human terrain and cross-cultural communications, negotiations, and more will be trained up.

The MCAC advisor teams are rank-heavy – a requirement for advising at foreign militaries at the brigade or higher level. The MCATs are led by a colonel or lieutenant colonel and structured like an infantry battalion staff. The officers and NCOs have expertise in one or more of the functional areas of operations, intelligence, fires, logistics, and communications.

Advising is not a new mission for U.S. Marines. In the past several decades there have been several programs, courses, and schools to train Marines for the advisory mission. However, what has been lacking in the past has been a permanent and professional advisory corps.

In the history of the Marine Corps advisors and trainers have been employed in places such as Latin America, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Georgia. The Marines were busy advising and training during the “Banana Wars” in Central America and the Caribbean in the first part of the twentieth century as well as in the later part of the century. In Vietnam the Marines took part in the Combined Action Program (CAP) – where they worked with the paramilitary Popular Forces (PF). The Marines also trained and advised the Vietnamese Marine Corps (VNMC).

In Afghanistan, the Marines provided advisor teams to train up the Afghan National Army 201st Corps in the early years of the conflict. Most recently Marines have been conducting the Security Force Assistance mission in Afghanistan as part of Task Force Southwest in Helmand province. They are advising and training the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).

In the establishment of the MCACs the Marine Corps has recognized the importance of a permanent advisory corps. This moves follows the formation six Security Force Assistance Brigades by the U.S. Army in the past two years. The formation of the MCACs shows that the Marine Corps is shifting from the ad hoc nature of advising efforts to one with a more permanent capability. The personnel of the newly established Marine Corps Advisor Companies will certainly be busy in the future!

**********

References: For a detailed examination about the Marine Corps advisory missions of the past read United States Marine Corps Advisors: Past, Present, and Future, CNA Analysis & Solutions, August 2013. (PDF, 136 pages).

Photo: Col. Christopher Douglas, senior advisor with the 505th Zone National Police (left), and BG Benjamin Watson, CG of Task Force Southwest (TFSW), conduct planning for operation Maiwand 11 with the Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF) leadership at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan, Jan. 25, 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Conner Robbins).