Enabling Others To Win in a Complex World: Maximizing Security Force Assistance Potential in The Regionally Aligned Brigade Combat Team

by Liam Walsh, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College

As the Army downsizes its personnel while still being asked to conduct a wide variety of missions globally, the need for increased effectiveness is paramount. Those interested in the possibilities presented by the Army’s recently developed regionally aligned forces (RAF) concept will find this monograph thought- provoking and of particular interest. While the United States has long recognized the importance of “helping others help themselves,” the author contends that, as Operation IRAQI FREEDOM demonstrated, U.S. Army conventional forces continue to falter in the realm of security force assistance. In a personnel and budgetary constrained environment, doing more with less will become more important, as will the need to build partner capacity. In this monograph, Captain (Promotable) Liam Walsh, an infantry officer and veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, seeks to answer how the Army’s principal tactical formation—the brigade combat team—can best respond to this challenge and opportunity.

90 pages, Paperback

Published December 24, 2015