Security Force Assistance
(SFA) in Afghanistan
The coalition forces are stepping back and letting
Afghan forces take the lead on the battlefield. The intent is to withdraw
all ISAF combat forces by the end of 2014. In an attempt to achieve this
goal the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has introduced the
"Security Force Assistance" or SFA concept. SFA in Afghanistan as a concept was approved
by the ISAF commander, General John Allen, in the later part 2011. This
concept was briefed to and approved by NATO in the early part of 2012. SFA
continues to be a prime factor in the transition to Afghans in the lead
and the departure of coalition forces in the next few years.
SFA. Security Force Assistance is
the method that is used to establish conditions to support the coalition
force's mission in Afghanistan. The SFA tasks include Organize, Train,
Equip, Rebuild, build, and Advise and assist (OTERA). The SFA teams should improve
the operational effectiveness of their security forces.
Functional Security Force Assistance.
As ISAF decreases its troop strength and pulls out combat units from Afghanistan it is leaving behind an "SFA capable
force". This force has been aligned to perform
Functional Security Force
Assistance. This is a new "brand" of SFA where advisors depart from
the unit-based, combat-advising model and adopt functional SFA - providing advice,
assistance, training, and more along functional processes and at critical nodes within
the ANSF.
View an
online video about
Functionally-based Security Force Assistance
January 2014
http://youtu.be/DfwHQiKyxVs
Bibliography for Resolute Support. Afghan War News has
compiled a "Resolute Support Annotated Bibliography" for the use of ISAF
staff and SFA advisors participating in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
It is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, almost 200 pages long, and less than 3 MBs
big. Easy to read online or download and it is available at the link
below:
www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm
Functional Areas of SFAAT Team Members.
The SFAATs are supposed to be composed of a variety of personnel with
different functional areas to include operations, personnel,
intelligence,
logistics,
communications,
fires, and
medical. Although the
requirements for the different types of personnel are clearly spelled out
in ISAF and IJC FRAGOs 1. and NATO and
CENTCOM concept letters many
times the teams lack the appropriate Military Occupational Specialty (MOS)
and rank structure. This is due to a lack of proper resourcing on the part
of tasked units in the states supplying the SFAAT personnel. In addition, the
U.S. Army's
Human Resource Command or
HRC has proven its inability to manage personnel (staff the teams
appropriately) during a wartime environment; instead, adopting to stick to
"peacetime" personnel management practices. U.S. Army Forces Command or
FORSCOM appears
to lack the ability to influence the personnel fill for SFAATs; resulting
in rank and MOS inappropriate advisors. MATs and PATs provided by NATO partners (Europe) are
usually well staffed with trained and experienced advisors. Learn more
about how the U.S. failed in the
advisor selection
process for the SFA mission in Afghanistan.
SFA in an Afghan Counterinsurgency
Environment. The ANSF is fighting an insurgency. Despite glowing
reports from ISAF about how well the ANSF is doing the basic truth is the
insurgency is just as strong as it ever was. The ANSF is engaged in a
counterinsurgency (COIN) fight. "SFA activities conducted during US
COIN operations in an HN should support HN COIN objectives."
2. Security Force Assistance advisors
need to know the Afghan processes for the functional areas they will be
advising (air operations, fires, logistics, intelligence, etc.). What is
not very apparent to most advisors and senior military leaders is the
great need for the advisors to know
counterinsurgency doctrine and
practices. The advisors should be able to provide advice, assistance,
and support to the ANA (and ANP) within the context of a counterinsurgency
fight. It is worrisome that the advisors selected for service in
Afghanistan don't not know COIN, are not trained up in COIN prior to
deployment, or that they are not advising their ANSF counterparts in COIN
once deployed.
SFA as a Part of COIN. Security
Force Assistance is nested within the Counterinsurgency Model.
"(2) Relationship of SFA to COIN. US COIN doctrine
incorporates a wide range of activities, of which security is only
one. Throughout US COIN operations, the efforts to build HN security
forces are through SFA activities using OTERA tasks. SFA supports USG
efforts to transition responsibilities to the HN. It is the
developmental activity of the security line of effort during COIN
operations that provides the HN a means of defeating future
insurgencies by their own means. SFA activities conducted during US
COIN operations in an HN should support HN COIN objectives."
Page I-3, Joint Doctrine Note 1-13, Security Force Assistance,
29 April 2013,
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/notes/jdn1_13.pdf
SFABs. In the move from
conducting combat operations and partnering with the ANSF to the Security
Force Assistance mission the basic brigade structure deploying to
Afghanistan has changed beginning in the fall of 2012. Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) are now being
replaced with a smaller sized unit (a BCT minus) called the Security Force Assistance
Brigade or SFAB. The SFAB is mission tailored by the regional commander
(as in RC East or RC South) to conduct Security Force Assistance. In
addition the SFAB provides enabler support to SFAATs and the ANSF. The
SFAB provides advisory capacity to the ANSF along with enablers such as
fires, medevac,
intelligence,
communications and logistics. You can learn more about the SFABs at the following
link: SFABs.
SFATs. The majority of the
Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) currently deployed in Afghanistan have 48-man
Security Force Assistance Teams attached to the brigade. The sourcing of
these individuals came from Human Resources Command (HRC). These individuals
are specially trained for advisory roles and have been assigned to advisor
tasks on Stability Transition Teams (STTs). As SFAATs, and later SFABs,
deployed to Afghanistan the number of SFATs diminished. Some SFABs
deployed with attached SFATs and some did not. You can learn more about SFATs
at the following link: SFATs.
STTs. The Stability Transition
Teams or STTs are small teams of individuals that advise ANSF elements.
The STTs came from the SFATs (48-man organization) or were internally
sourced by the brigades. Some units use the term SFAT and STT to describe
the 48-man unit. Other units use the STT term to describe 2-6 man teams
used to advise a specific unit.
SFAATs. The primary basic
unit that conducts Security Force Assistance are the Security Force Assistance Advisory Teams
(SFAATs). The first SFAATs deployed in the beginning of 2012. SFAATs came
from a variety of organizations to include coalition forces, USMC, the
162nd Inf Bde, 1st Army, and from some of the BCTs (such as 2/101st).
SFAATs are small in size - usually 9, 12, or 18 personnel depending on the
type of ANSF unit they are advising. They are usually augmented with a
Security Force team on a permanent, temporary, or by mission basis. RC
South continues to call their advisor teams (structured as SFAATs) SFATs
(not sure why). You can learn more about these teams at the following link:
SFAATs.
MATs and PATs. The European
coalition SFAATs are called Military Advisor Teams (MATs) or Police
Advisor Teams (PATs). They are filled with the same type of personnel, have
the same types of equipment, and bring the same capability as the U.S.
Army SFAATs. The training received by the MATs and PATs is generally
better as a result of going through JMRC at Hohenfels, Germany.
Levels of Advising. There are
currently three levels of advising - "Level 1 Contact" and "Level 2
Contact".
Level 1. Level 1 refers to an
SFAAT interacting with a designated ANSF unit on a continued daily and
persistent basis.
The SFAAT is either embedded at the ANSF location or in close proximity
(an adjacent or nearby COP or FOB).
Level 2. Level 2 or
Level Two advising refers to an
SFAAT the interacts with a designated ANSF unit on a less frequent basis
to ensure the continued development of the ANSF unit. Many times the SFAAT
will have more than one ANSF unit to advise when conducting Level 2
advising. For the most part, most advisors believe that level 2 advising
is not work the effort or risk for the marginal benefit obtained.
Level 3. This is a new category.
Not seeing the Afghans as much as in Level 2 Advising. A phone call from
time to time? Other organizations refer to Level 3 advising as 'touching'
ANSF elements or personnel that attend training events or conferences at
centralized locations where advisors habitually live and work.
News Reports. Read current news reports about SFA and SFAATs
at the following link: SFA
and SFAAT News Reports.
Listing of Pubs and Reports. You
can view a listing (with links) of publications, papers, reports, training
documents, military references and manuals (FMs) and various other documents on
SFA and SFAATs at the following link:
SFA and SFAAT Publications
and Reports.
"15 Principles of SFA". In the
spring of 2012 General John Allen, COMISAF, released his principles for
the conduct of Security Force Assistance. You can read these SFA
principles at the following link:
15 Principles of SFA.
SFA Terminology. View a list of
SFA terms here.
CAAT SFA Bibliography. A listing
of books, publications, news reports, and websites about SFA and
Afghanistan. See
CAAT SFA
Bibliography here.
SFA FAQs. See a list of
frequently asked questions about Security Force Assistance (SFA) here
SFA FAQ.
Advisor Selection. Unfortunately,
the U.S. military has not excelled in the
selection of advisors for the
SFA mission. Advisors have been assigned to advise Afghans who are senior
to them in age, rank, experience and in training. This puts the advisor in
a difficult position and limits the advisors effectiveness.
SFA Advisor Training. There are
many avenues to receive training in SFA prior to shipping off to
Afghanistan. Some of those are listed below.
Leader Development & Education for Sustained Peace
Program. This organization can be found at
www.ldesp.org. LDESP provides graduate level education for military
and civilian leaders to establish a regional, geopolitical, and cultural
framework for understanding the challenges of conducting full spectrum
operations in unique and rapidly changing environments.
SFA Guide 3.0. Security Force
Assistance in Afghanistan is explained in great detail in this
guide published by ISAF in July 2014.
SFA Advisor Process Maps. ISAF
has developed a number of
process maps for critical functions and systems within the ANSF. These
maps are a graphical depiction of how certain process work. They are
provided in Annex B of the SFA Guide mentioned above.
Guidance on SFA Training. DoD has
published a publication entitled
Guidance on
Common Training Standards for Security Forcer Assistance (SFA), Office
of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, January
2014.
Videos about SFA
June 13, 2012. My Job in Afghanistan: Advisory Team Commander, UK Defence Headquarters.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlpHv4wvHho
Blog Posts about SFA in Afghanistan
Blog Posts About SFATs
Blog Posts About Advisors in Afghanistan
SFATDoD Live
Team MacheteFacebook
Endnotes
1. In regards to staffing personnel on SFAATs with
the appropriate rank and MOS see NATO's concept letter for SFA dated
February 2012 and Appendix 1 to Annex F (SFA) to IJC OPORD 1391 (Operation
Naweed).
2. For more info on SFA within a COIN context see
page I-3, Joint Doctrine Note 1-13, Security Force Assistance, 29
April 2013.
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/notes/jdn1_13.pdf
3. For more on advisor selection see "Giving Advising its Due", by
Carl Forsling on Small Wars Journal, January 22, 2014.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/giving-advising-its-due
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