{"id":22256,"date":"2018-08-08T21:54:47","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T21:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/08\/gap-in-army-adviser-brigade-deployments-could-create-complications-in-afghanistan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:07:00","slug":"gap-in-army-adviser-brigade-deployments-could-create-complications-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/08\/08\/gap-in-army-adviser-brigade-deployments-could-create-complications-in-afghanistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Gap in Army adviser brigade deployments could create complications in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The commander of U.S Central Command said he\u2019s confident the next Army security force assistance brigade<\/a>, or SFAB<\/a>, will be ready to take the reins of the Afghan mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the SFAB<\/a> that\u2019s on the ground now in the war-torn country is slated to pack its bags and head for home sometime in November \u2014 potentially leaving a gap of several months, as the 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade<\/a> isn\u2019t expected to deploy until early 2019, the Fayetteville Observer<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an uncommon turnover in a war zone<\/a> where the military traditionally hands over operations to incoming units on the ground \u2014 sometimes referred to as a left seat, right seat ride \u2014 where new units are familiarized with their battlespace from an outgoing unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe U.S. Army really puts the emphasis on this idea of passing lessons learned and passing information,\u201d Gen. Joseph Votel, the CENTCOM commander, told reporters Wednesday during a Pentagon briefing, about the incoming new SFAB<\/a> to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Army\u2019s second experimental advisory brigade is still being manned, equipped and trained, and it needs to complete a certification exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, a rotation that isn\u2019t slated till sometime in January 2019, according to the Fayetteville Observer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another advisory task force on the ground known as Task Force Southwest \u2014 staffed with roughly 300 Marines \u2014 is in its second rotation, having completed a successful turnover in mid-January, and has since hit the ground running taking out Taliban leaders and destroying narcotics financing operations with precision rocket artillery strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Army Sgt. Christian Ladd watches as an Afghan medical soldier carries a simulated casualty. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Neysa Canfield)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But the Army\u2019s SFABs<\/a> are far bigger at nearly 1,000 soldiers, which just packs onto an already complex and highly volatile war zone, meaning any turnover between the two units will need to be informative and in-depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the Pentagon wouldn\u2019t provide figures on a potential 2nd SFAB deployment. \u201cWe do not comment on troop levels, the Army provides forces to the Combatant Command and 2nd SFAB will be ready if and or when ordered to deploy,”LTC. Kone Faulkner, a Pentagon spokesman, told Army Times in an emailed statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a steady flow of information from the current SFAB, the 1st SFAB, to the second SFAB that will follow them in theater,\u201d Votel said Wednesday. \u201cSo, they\u2019ve been sharing a lot of lessons learned in terms of how they are operating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t