Advisory Presence: Examining The Number Of Foreign Advisors In Afghanistan

Military advisors are military personnel deployed to foreign countries to aid in military education, training, and other various military tasks. In 2015, the United States transitioned from a combat mission in Afghanistan to a mission to train and advise Afghan forces. The U.S. military's approach to field advising in Afghanistan has gone through four iterations: Embedded Training Teams (ETT), Security Force Assistance Teams (SFAT), Security Force Assistance Advisor Teams (SFAAT), and Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB).

The U.S. has struggled with staffing units, providing tailored predeployment training, and retaining personnel long enough to maintain expertise and long-term relationships with Afghan counterparts. The U.S. military continues to struggle with staffing units, providing tailored predeployment training, and retaining personnel long enough to maintain expertise and long-term relationships with Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) partners.

The US expanded its advising to additional regions in Afghanistan

The US has provided advisory support to the Afghan National Army (ANA) since 2015 under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission, known as Resolute Support. The US advising approach has evolved over time, with three key changes:

• Geographic expansion: The US expanded its advising efforts to additional regions in Afghanistan, accompanying Afghan forces on certain combat operations. This led to an increase in US troop commitment in the country through 2017.
• Expansion of expeditionary advising: The US military services, including the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, provided additional advisors and personnel to support this expanded mission. The Army, in particular, contributed the largest increases in personnel.
• Shift in strategy: US forces were allowed to accompany and enable ANA tactical units. This shift in strategy aimed to enhance the advisory mission and improve the effectiveness of the ANA.

The expansion of the US advising mission in Afghanistan demonstrates the country's commitment to supporting and strengthening the Afghan National Army. By providing additional advisors and expanding their reach, the US aimed to improve the ANA's capabilities and help them address security challenges more effectively. This evolution in the advising approach reflects the dynamic nature of US-Afghan military cooperation and the shared goal of a stable and secure Afghanistan.

US forces accompanied Afghan forces on combat operations

The U.S. military presence in Afghanistan began in 2001, following the September 11 attacks, and ended in August 2021, after a 20-year occupation.

In 2015, the U.S. transitioned from a combat mission in Afghanistan to a mission to train and advise Afghan forces. As part of this mission, U.S. forces began to accompany Afghan forces on certain combat operations.

The U.S. advising approach for the Afghan National Army (ANA) under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission to train, advise, and assist Afghan security forces evolved since 2015 from advising the ANA primarily at the corps level, ministries, and institutions to include tactical-level advising with the ability to accompany the ANA on combat operations with certain limitations.

This evolution of the advising approach included three key changes over time:

• A geographic expansion of advising and an adjustment to originally planned force reductions: U.S. forces began to accompany Afghan forces on combat operations in additional regions in Afghanistan. To accommodate these changes, planned reductions of U.S. forces were adjusted, increasing the U.S. troop commitment in Afghanistan through 2017.
• Expansion of expeditionary advising and a related increase of U.S. forces: The U.S. Air Force continued to provide advisors from the ministerial down to the tactical level, and the U.S. Marine Corps returned to an advising role in Afghanistan in April 2017.
• A shift in strategy to allow U.S. forces to accompany and enable ANA tactical units: The U.S. Army provided additional personnel as part of an increase in forces approved in 2017, and in early 2018 deployed the first of its new Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB) as part of the over 1,700 Army personnel provided during the year to bolster the advisory mission.

The U.S. combat advisor mission requires U.S. officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) to teach, coach, and mentor host nation (HN) security force counterparts. This enables the rapid development of HN security forces' leadership capabilities, helps develop command and control (C2) and operational capabilities at every level, allows direct access to Coalition Forces (CF) enablers to enhance HN security force counterinsurgency (COIN) operations, and incorporates CF lethal and non-lethal effects on the battlefield.

Security Forces Assistance (SFA) defines a more in-depth method of embedded mentorship. SFABs are externally sourced from different commands and are composed of four primary advisors, eight specialists, and eight security personnel. They are trained at Fort Polk, Louisiana, at the Advisor Academy ("Tigerland").

The U.S. military's approach to field advising in Afghanistan has gone through four iterations: Embedded Training Teams (ETT), Security Force Assistance Teams (SFAT), Security Force Assistance Advisor Teams (SFAAT), and SFABs.

The US Army approved a new force structure for advising foreign security forces

In October 2016, the US Army approved a new force structure to use in advising foreign security forces—the Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB). The SFAB is a specialised US Army unit formed to conduct security force assistance (SFA) missions: to train, advise, assist, enable and accompany operations with allied and partner nations.

The SFAB is designed to reduce the burden of such operations on conventionally-organised Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), allowing BCTs to focus on fighting near-peer threats. The SFAB is composed of roughly 800 personnel, primarily commissioned and non-commissioned officers selected from regular and National Guard Army units and given additional training at the Military Advisor Training Academy (MATA) at Fort Moore, Georgia.

The SFAB has its roots in Special Forces training and doctrine. The original Military Assistance Training Advisor (MATA) course was established in 1962 as part of the US Army Special Warfare School. It prepared conventional US Army officers and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) for assignments as advisors to Vietnamese Army units. Instructors were Special Forces NCOs who were trained in conducting Foreign Internal Defence (FID) missions.

The SFAB carries on the FID mission of conventional foreign forces today.

NATO's role in Afghanistan was its first operational commitment outside of Europe

NATO's involvement in Afghanistan was twofold: the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the Resolute Support Mission (RSM).

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)

ISAF was a NATO-led mission that aimed to create the conditions for the Afghan government to exercise its authority throughout the country and build the capacity of the Afghan national security forces, including in the fight against international terrorism. ISAF was deployed under a United Nations (UN) Security Council mandate.

ISAF was initially led by individual NATO allies on a six-month rotational basis. In August 2003, NATO took command of ISAF, which was then expanded to cover the whole country. ISAF was one of the largest coalitions in history and NATO's longest and most challenging mission to date. At its peak, the force was more than 130,000 strong, with troops from 50 NATO and partner countries.

ISAF's efforts were focused on developing professional, capable, and self-sustaining Afghan National Security Forces. This work was carried out in close cooperation with the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan and the Afghan Ministry of Defence.

ISAF also played a role in improving governance and socio-economic development in Afghanistan. During ISAF's mission, Afghanistan made the largest percentage gain of any country in basic health and development indicators. Maternal mortality decreased, life expectancy increased, and a vibrant media scene emerged. Millions of people were able to exercise their right to vote in five election cycles since 2004.

The Resolute Support Mission (RSM)

In January 2015, NATO launched the Resolute Support Mission to train, advise, and assist Afghan security forces and institutions to fight terrorism and secure their country. RSM was a non-combat mission that performed supporting functions in several areas, including operational planning, budgetary development, force generation, management and development of personnel, logistical sustainment, and civilian oversight.

As of August 2020, RSM had around 10,000 personnel from 36 NATO allies and partner countries.

In April 2021, NATO decided to withdraw all Allied troops from Afghanistan within a few months. The RSM mission was terminated in early September 2021.

The US military created a civil affairs framework to coordinate redevelopment

• The US military wanted to coordinate redevelopment with the United Nations and non-governmental organisations.
• The US military wanted to expand the authority of the Kabul government.

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