{"id":37329,"date":"2020-03-24T11:44:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T11:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/24\/army-advisers-still-in-africa-following-spike-in-combat\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:14:09","slug":"army-advisers-still-in-africa-following-spike-in-combat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/03\/24\/army-advisers-still-in-africa-following-spike-in-combat\/","title":{"rendered":"Army advisers in Africa following spike in combat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In October, days after a brief but complex attack was repelled by U.S. soldiers<\/a> at an obscure Somali airfield, the general helming U.S. Africa Command\u2019s Army component asked a simple question: Are these guys getting combat patches?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to that point, Maj. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr. didn\u2019t have the authority to award those decorations, according to officials at the command. In the past year he had led U.S. Army Africa<\/a>, there hadn\u2019t been major instances of combat for soldiers not assigned to AFRICOM\u2019s special operations component. When and if combat did occur, the decorations could be handed out stateside, officials reasoned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the attack on Baledogle Airfield<\/a>, which included three car bombs<\/a> and at least a dozen al Shabab fighters<\/a>, changed that. Cloutier took steps to request wartime awards approval authority following the incident, allowing him to green-light 56 Combat Action Badges and 70 Combat Infantryman Badges to soldiers who were engaged in ground combat at the air base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a complex attack,\u201d an Army official said. \u201cThose guys were prepared and every al Shabab fighter that decided to toe up against that base in Baledogle, they were killed to the man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While no combat badges have been approved for 2020, a nighttime raid at the seaside airfield of Manda Bay, Kenya, on Jan. 5 breached the base\u2019s perimeter and damaged six aircraft. One U.S. serviceman \u2014 a conventional soldier<\/a> \u2014 and two Pentagon contractors<\/a> were killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That raid, like the 2017 Tongo Tongo ambush<\/a> before it, highlighted once more the risks on the continent for U.S. forces stretched over a landmass more than twice the size of the mainland United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly a month afterward, the Pentagon announced the upcoming deployment of a security force assistance brigade, or SFAB, to Africa as part of the U.S. military\u2019s \u201cright-sizing\u201d of forces globally. The SFAB is not expected to have the network of bases and airlift that was present on its inaugural deployment to Afghanistan, the brigade\u2019s commander, Brig. Gen. Scott Jackson, said previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe infrastructure for Gen. Jackson and his guys is going to be very austere,\u201d Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley told Congress on Feb. 26. \u201cThey knew that going into it. They volunteered for that and they are specifically prepared to train, advise, assist, coach, teach, mentor and accompany indigenous forces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, SFAB soldiers have adjusted their planned advising events, and there are no ongoing events at this time, AFRICOM officials said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combat in an area the size of Africa is hard to characterize. But force protection roles, like those at Baledogle, will not be in the SFAB\u2019s purview, Army officials said. The East Africa Response Force, a quick reaction unit dispatched after the Manda Bay attack, will still be filled by other forces as well, even though the SFAB is ostensibly replacing 101st Airborne Division soldiers who last occupied the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, when operations resume, the SFAB will be training partners on tasks like counter-IED procedures, advanced infantry tactics and the use of mortars, Army officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, militant attacks in Africa have caught the Pentagon off-guard in recent years. And the casualties they cause never fail to bewilder the American public, who inevitably ask: \u201cWe have troops there<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, we are in Africa<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly 6,000 U.S. personnel are present in Africa, with most anchored around Djibouti in the east. From there, they fan out around locales like Kenya to primarily support the fight against al Shabab in Somalia. In the west, U.S. troops support roughly 4,000 French forces looking to oust Islamic militants from the north of Mali and also conduct counterterrorism missions of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFRICOM did not go into specifics, but officials said that the coronavirus has altered the \u201csize and scope\u201d to ensure the protection of the force, both American and partner nation, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of the location, AFRICOM is always quick to emphasize that the mission is \u201cby, with and through\u201d local partners. The periodic deaths of American troops make that hard to believe. But the ongoing Pentagon review of combatant commands could change that even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Army\u2019s involvement in Africa was the first up for consideration by Defense Secretary Mark Esper\u2019s evaluation of whether the current global force posture is meeting the department\u2019s objectives, which involve providing a counterweight against China and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the review, the Pentagon directed the Army to deploy its 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade to the African continent, replacing elements of the 101st Airborne Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe only have so many forces, and the forces are going to be allocated towards the priorities,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said of the shift. \u201cAnd one of the reasons we stood up the SFABs is it\u2019s a very efficient and effective way to build partner capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move signals the start of regional alignments for the Army\u2019s specialized adviser units, which the Pentagon said will free up the service\u2019s brigade combat teams to focus on training to fight peer adversaries<\/a>. It could also alleviate some of the work relegated to Army Green Berets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSpecial Forces is very good at training tactical-type units; They\u2019re very good at accompanying tactical-type units,” McConville said. \u201cBut SFABs build a professional military force, which is different. How do you do logistics. How do you maintain vehicles. How do you build a professional military that will provide security.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
U.S. Army Soldiers, assigned to Task Force Guardian, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), 1-186th Infantry Battalion, Oregon National Guard, discuss security patrol operations during a security patrol stop in Somalia, on December 3, 2019. The 41st IBCT provides base security and force protection for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa personnel and partner U.S. forces deployed in Somalia. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nick Kibbey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The typical Army Green Beret team is led by a captain, one whose experience is usually limited to running a unit of 12 special operators and maybe a few dozen more soldiers brought along as enablers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat captain has never been a battalion commander, never a brigade commander, and maybe never even a company commander,\u201d McConville added. \u201cThey know how to do tactics and sergeants certainly know how to do skillsets … but they\u2019ve never run a battalion. The SFAB is going to have a forward battalion commander that has run a battalion. The brigade commander is a former brigade commander who has run a brigade. That\u2019s how you professionalize these armies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special operations forces also plan to increasingly rely on 127 Echo programs<\/a> in Africa, the Joint Staff\u2019s then-vice director of operations, Maj. Gen. James B. Hecker, told Congress last winter. Those programs fund the use of units from African governments as \u201csurrogate forces\u201d in counter terrorism missions, shifting a greater share of the burden of waging war onto local partners, while Americans retain operational control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 127 Echo programs started with a modest fiscal authority of $10 million in the mid-2000s, but have since grown to about $100 million per fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new authority, called Section 1202, was \u201cpurpose built\u201d to also use surrogate forces, but within the context of great power competition rather than counterterrorism, Owen West, the former assistant defense secretary for special operations, said at the same hearing last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to demonstrate its value proposition to you … but ultimately, I think this should be as large as 127 E,\u201d West told Congress on Feb. 6, 2019. Section 1202 authorities were first passed in the 2018 defense budget. In December, they were extended through 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrambling for influence<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFRICOM officials say a U.S. presence on the continent will prevent the resurgence of terror groups aligned with the Islamic State and al Qaida, as well as counter other powers interested in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmall investments, a few troops and a few bucks can go a long way and make a real difference in Africa,\u201d Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, who leads AFRICOM, said Jan. 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa is important to China\u2019s development strategy in the coming decades. The continent offers emerging markets, flush with booming populations and raw materials that could give China the next link in its own development chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\t