{"id":47485,"date":"2020-08-05T20:34:25","date_gmt":"2020-08-05T20:34:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/05\/army-sfab-enterprise-changes-leaders-as-it-begins-sending-smaller-teams-out-globally\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:55:07","slug":"army-sfab-enterprise-changes-leaders-as-it-begins-sending-smaller-teams-out-globally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2020\/08\/05\/army-sfab-enterprise-changes-leaders-as-it-begins-sending-smaller-teams-out-globally\/","title":{"rendered":"Army SFAB enterprise changes leaders as it begins sending smaller teams out globally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Army\u2019s security force assistance brigades<\/a> are preparing for more global missions in the coming months, the outgoing commander of the SFAB enterprise, and his successor, said in interviews last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some new missions will dispatch SFAB advisers to more austere and far-flung locations where the U.S. military footprint is less developed. That presents opportunities to work with new foreign militaries, but it can also complicate how advisers are protected and sustained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust as likely in the future, we will have small countries in the Pacific, small countries in Africa, small countries in South America and Central America where we may only have one team,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Scott Jackson, who will lead the division-level Security Force Assistance Command going forward. \u201cIt could be four people; it could be 12 people, depending on the effect we\u2019re trying to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SFABs have already taken on missions to advise foreign troops<\/a> on everything from coordinating air support to sustaining logistics on patrol. But so far, most of those efforts have been focused on Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s now changing. As the Army aligns each of its five active-duty SFABs to a different combatant command<\/a>, specialized advisory teams will be offered up to regional leaders. Personnel from the sixth SFAB, a National Guard unit, will be available to all five COCOMs, said Brig. Gen. Mark H. Landes, the outgoing commander of Security Force Assistance Command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne [SFAB] is already aligning with [Indo-Pacific Command], and then another one is taking over the mission for [Africa Command]. So we\u2019re already seeing regional alignment,\u201d Landes added. \u201cI won\u2019t give a specific date on when all five will be regionally aligned, but it\u2019s within months, not years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Landes\u2019 successor, Jackson, led 1st SFAB out of Fort Benning, Georgia, during a maiden deployment to Afghanistan. He will take the helm as SFABs transition to \u201cmore of a global role,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfghanistan was a very narrowly scoped mission, by intent. But now, as we look outside Afghanistan \u2026 you\u2019re really going to see a huge return on investment,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cNow, we\u2019re operating more in the competition phase<\/a>. You know, a more permissive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New missions on new continents can present challenges, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\t