Enabling Other to Win in a Complex World : Maximizing Security Force Assistance Potential in the Regionally Aligned Brigade Combat Team

Beginning in 2013 the U.S. Army began an effort to engage regionally and respond globally. A central tenant of this strategy building upon National strategic guidance is the necessity to build partner capacity. Army units through the regionally aligned forces concept may find themselves conducting security force assistance (SFA) missions across the globe as a means to achieve these ways. However after examining the Armys SFA mission in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM from 2003-10 it becomes apparent that institutional and organizational shortcomings plagued the Armys initial efforts in this critical aspect of the campaign. Many of these shortcomings remain in the Army today particularly within the Armys core formation-the brigade combat team (BCT). This monograph examines the Armys role in conducting SFA in Iraq drawing key lessons for the Armys experience there and then provides recommendations as to how the Army can better optimize the BCT to conduct SFA while still retaining its core mission to fight and win Americas wars.