The United States spent over 20 years in Afghanistan and while a lot has been written about the missteps, there is much to be written about the solutions that would have lent to better outcomes. This is the first of a three-part series on Afghanistan and its lessons. Guest host and U.S. Army War College Fellow LTC Ranjini Danaraj and MG Donn Hill, the Commander of Security Force Assistance Command, have a candid discussion on what the U.S. Army has learned about security force assistance, building balanced and sustainable foreign security forces, and operationalizing the lessons learned from Afghanistan. MG Hill shares insights on how the Army’s security force assistance brigades are taking best practices to armies around the world and what is now codified in the forthcoming update to FM 3-22, Army Support to Security Cooperation.
We hired a lot of advisors into those those initial brigade formations who had served in that capacity and that was because we were looking for those skill sets and those experiences, but also because a lot of those soldiers said hey that that was a great mission I got a lot out of it I learned a lot I believe in that I believe in building partner capacity and trying to get an Afghan solution to an Afghan problem and an Iraq solution to Iraq problem.
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Major General Donn Hill is the Commanding General, Security Force Assistance Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He previously stood up 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade then deployed across Afghanistan and Iraq, while simultaneously serving as the Commander, Train Advise Assist Command – East.
LTC (P) Ranjini Danaraj is a U.S. Army War College Fellow at Denver University. Her 21 years of service includes deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Command of the 759th MP BN, and assignments at USNORTHCOM, the Joint Staff, and the National Security Council Staff.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of Defense.
Photo Description: The 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) patch on a U.S. Army soldier’s sleeve.
Photo Credit: NATO photo taken by U.S. Navy Lt. Aubrey Page
