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-   -   SFAB is no more??? (http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52908)

JJ_BPK 11-01-2017 05:53

SFAB is no more???
 
Looks like someone is listening to us??


Quote:


1st Security Force Assistance Brigade
18 hrs ·

The 1st SFAB has great respect for U.S. Army Special Forces, their many accomplishments and their singularly distinguished history. We also respect the concerns associated with the heraldry of the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade.

The 1st SFAB is not a Special Forces organization. We are a conventional force purposefully built to partner with other conventional forces. SFABs will support Army readiness by allowing brigade combat teams to focus on building their readiness for large scale contingencies instead of on the train, advise and assist missions.

In accordance with Army guidance, we will select a new unit name. The Army has also decided the SFABs will wear a Brown Infantry Beret like those worn by many armies. Our new name and photos of the beret will be published once the final decisions are approved.

Thank you for your support as we establish the identity and culture of the #1SFAB.

U.S. Army U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) XVIII Airborne Corps
Ba Da BOOM..

:munchin

Pete 11-01-2017 06:00

Just going to fly a little lower under the radar.

I guess we'll have to wait to see how greenish the brown beret will be.

Ret10Echo 11-01-2017 06:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete (Post 634545)
Just going to fly a little lower under the radar.

I guess we'll have to wait to see how greenish the brown beret will be.

It bears considerable watchfulness. I expect there are 100's or 1000's in the supply-chain already.

scooter 11-01-2017 07:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJ_BPK (Post 634544)
Looks like someone is listening to us??




Ba Da BOOM..

:munchin

No. He means that the SFAB will focus on advise and assist missions so the regular Brigade Combat Teams can focus on what they're supposed to be doing, which is preparing to fight a major war.

Box 11-01-2017 07:11

It reads like, "we are going to do exactly what we said we were going to do - acknowledging of course that we are not SOF"

Razor 11-01-2017 08:02

I'm betting they're referring to the 'Legion' nickname that Milley already stated would be changed.

So if the SFABs are all about freeing up BCTs to prepare for their combat missions, does that mean the Regionally Aligned Brigade concept is officially dead now (or more likely/appropriately, transferred to the ARNG who can actually support long-term unit assignments to foster regional expertise)?

scooter 11-01-2017 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor (Post 634556)
....does that mean the Regionally Aligned Brigade concept is officially dead now?

That's my understanding based on conversations I had yesterday, but I'm getting everything third hand so I cant say for sure.

Chucko 11-01-2017 09:49

IMHO, I find it difficult to believe the RA would change their mind so quickly about a big project like this. They usually don't cave to peer pressure so easy.

The Reaper 11-01-2017 12:16

Exactly.

Source?

TR

JJ_BPK 11-01-2017 12:30

TR,

My quote is from the SFAB FB page.
Not sure is you must have a FB account.
It was posted yesterday @ 1:05PM

https://www.facebook.com/1SFAB/

tonyz 11-01-2017 12:54

Here's what's being reported.


Your Army
Army chief: SFABs will do a completely different job than Special Forces
By: Meghann Myers
1 day ago

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...pecial-forces/

Amid an uproar from active and former Special Forces soldiers over uniform items and his comments on the history of SF training missions, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley took to the Army Times comments section Monday night to clarify his remarks.

The controversy began late last week when a photo of a green-ish beret and Instagram posts of uniform patches belonging to the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade — looking suspiciously like uniform items worn by the Army’s storied Special Forces groups — made the rounds on social media.

Tempers flared again Monday, when Milley told Army Times that SFABs would focus on training conventional troops, which the U.S. has done for decades, adding that SF did not train Afghan National Army or Iraqi Security Forces troops.

In a mea culpa posted to the original story, Milley explained his original statement.

“I should not have said that SF ‘never’ advised the ANA or ISF. That is not true,” he said. “The majority of advising to the ANA and ISF conventional units was done by conventional US Army and Marine units while SF focused on the ANA Commandos, Iraqi Special Forces and other specialized units. All of which were part of the ANA or the ISF. Also, there were some SF teams that did advise ANA and Iraqi conventional units. I was obviously incorrect and I apologize.”

Milley clarified to Army Times that the beret color, when it is fully fielded, will be brown. The original prototype was inspired by the British Royal Anglian Regiment’s berets, a color historically associated with infantry units.

“I can understand their anger and wrath,” he said. “And all I’m trying to do is help explain.”

SF vs. SFAB

Beyond the controversy about uniform items, some in the Special Forces community have questioned the mission of SFABs, as SF has a storied history of training foreign troops.

But they haven’t been the only ones, Milley told Army Times on Monday. Two of the most notable organizations were the Korean Military Advisory Group and Military Assistance Command-Vietnam, and both included conventional troops.

Since the beginning of the Global War on Terror, the majority of conventional Afghan and Iraqi troops have been trained by conventional U.S. forces on an ad hoc basis, he added.

“Special Forces has gone out and done what they’re supposed to do, and only they can do, which is train irregular forces,” Milley said.

Conventional forces are more suited to teach artillery, armor, aviation and other specialties, he said.

“[Special Forces] can’t really train the scope and level of training of an entire national army,” Milley added. “ It fell to the regular Army to do it.”

In recent years, the Army has sent headquarters units to train, advise and assist conventional units, ripping apart brigade combat teams in their deployment cycle, leaving the combat troops at home.

“Right now I’ve got nine brigades that are linked to the Middle East, who have just returned, are there or are ready to go there,” Milley said. “I only have 31 brigades, and nine of them are wrapped up doing this.”

Breaking up those brigades prevents them from training as a whole for combat deployments, which are more and more at the forefront of the military’s priorities as tensions rise in Korea and Europe.

“I need to get those units back and get their readiness up to speed,” Milley said.

He also believes that the train-advise-assist mission will continue long into the future and is in need of professionalization.

“There is no intent to replace Special Forces, or to compete with Special Forces,” Milley said. “This is a unique mission gap that needs to be filled.”

That’s not to say that SFABs won’t ever be collocated with SF in the same region, but they won’t necessarily be, Milley added.

For example, conventional and SF units are both deployed to countries like Niger and Cameroon supporting regional stability in separate missions.

<snip> complete article at link:

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...pecial-forces/

Guy 11-01-2017 12:55

A source...

Ret10Echo 11-01-2017 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guy (Post 634569)

Most likely course of action is that this lays on the bottom for a bit, remains silent and allows the storm to pass... resurfaces without change from original course.

Just a guess...but IMHO the pattern is consistent.

Joker 11-01-2017 16:26

1 Attachment(s)
Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete (Post 634545)
Just going to fly a little lower under the radar.

I guess we'll have to wait to see how greenish the brown beret will be.

Reversible. Brown out when you see a real GB insight, and Green when the coast is clear. :D

I do see this on their FB site. What can go wrong here?
"Sgt. David Kappel, an infantry trainer assigned to 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, adjusts the rifle of an Iraqi army trainee as he instructs them how to properly "stack" in preparation to move toward their objective at Camp Taji, Iraq. (Master Sgt. Mike Lavigne/Army)"

EricV 11-01-2017 16:34

If we call them the Brownies...
 
will it invite unfair comparisons to a certain scouting organization?? :munchin


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