{"id":12796,"date":"2020-02-12T19:39:24","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T19:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/12\/pentagon-realignment-will-send-1st-sfab-to-africa\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:38:15","slug":"pentagon-realignment-will-send-1st-sfab-to-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/02\/12\/pentagon-realignment-will-send-1st-sfab-to-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon realignment will send 1st SFAB to Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army is deploying the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade<\/a> to Africa to replace elements of an infantry brigade from the 101st Airborne Division <\/a>in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1st SFAB was selected as part of the Defense Department\u2019s comprehensive review of each combatant command to align their activities with the U.S. military\u2019s broader focus on competing against Russia and China, Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah said in a statement Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa Command was the first to present findings and recommendations as part of the review. The Army\u2019s SFABs are a relatively new concept designed to take on the train, advise and assist mission that has bogged down other conventional troops over the course of nearly two decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis allows them to perform this important \u2018great power competition\u2019 role more effectively and more efficiently than conventional units,” Farah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SFAB deployment will also reduce the demand on Army brigade combat teams, Farah added, which have been tasked out to AFRICOM for missions like that of the East Africa Response Force<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1st SFAB, which is based at Fort Benning, Georgia, will relieve the 101st Airborne Division troopers from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in the coming weeks, though exact dates have not yet been announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This deployment will be 1st SFAB\u2019s second. The unit conducted the Army\u2019s inaugural SFAB deployment to Afghanistan in March 2018, and since that time, other SFABs have followed suit in heading there to train and advise Afghan Army kandanks<\/a> \u2015 battalion-sized formations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in January that another SFAB is also going to be made available to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in 2021. A small element will be aligned in the early part of the fiscal year, which could mean as early as November and December. Then the full SFAB will be available by the final quarter, said Lt. Col. Driece M. Harris, a spokeswoman for the secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\t