The Army on Friday announced the creation of its second Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB), specially trained units that focus on advising and assisting partner and allied militaries.
The second SFAB will be stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and will be formally activated in January. It is the second of six planned SFABs, which are specially trained to work with allied militaries, which Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has said will be a primary mission for the Army in coming decades.
“It is my assessment, and the assessment of the secretary and the assessment of the Army staff, that we are likely to be involved in train, advise, and assist operations for many years to come,” Milley said in a prepared statement.
The decision to station the second SFAB at Fort Bragg was based on strategic considerations including projected time to activate and train an SFAB, presence of senior grade personnel to man the unit, and required facility costs, according to the Army. SFABs are structured similarly to a brigade combat team (BCT) and consist of about 800 senior and noncommissioned officers who have expertise in training and advising foreign security forces. Soldiers in the SFAB are screened based on qualifications and experience.
The unit will receive the best, most advanced military equipment available, according to the Army. SFAB soldiers also receive special training through the Military Advisor Training Academy to include language, foreign weapons and the Joint Fires Observer course. Commanders and leaders in the SFAB will have previously commanded and led similar BCT units at the same echelon. Enlisted advisers will hold the rank of sergeant and above. The Army is starting to formalize policies and regulations that will help SFAB soldiers with promotion rates and boards, selection boards, and special pay.
The first SFAB was established in May at Fort Benning, Ga., and has already participate din live-fire exercises there.
Lt. Col. Johnathan Thomas, who serves with the Army’s G-3/5/7 force management directorate at the Pentagon, previously said that the units could be deployed to Africa, Europe or elsewhere, though no deployments have been announced.
“The SFAB is designed to rapidly deploy into a theater of operations in support of a combatant commander,” Thomas said when creation of the first SFAB was announced. “Once it arrives in that particular theater, it will begin to work with, train, advise, and assist those partner nation security forces on anything they need help with, be it logistics, be it communications, be it maneuver. Anything they need help with to improve their capacity and capability, that’s what the SFAB is designed to do.”