Security force assistance—the effort to develop capable host nation security forces—is a key component of the U.S. efforts to create sustainable security in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal of this mission is to build partner capability and improve the security situation such that, over time, U.S. forces and partnered foreign security forces can collectively set the conditions to defeat common threats and ultimately achieve strategic success. The Army’s field manual on security force assistance recognizes that this is not a new mission but also states that in the current operational environment, security force assistance is no longer an additional duty but is now a core competency of the Army. It is part of the full spectrum of military operations, meaning it can be conducted across the spectrum of conflict, from stable peace to general war. The field manual also notes that security force assistance can include both advising and partnering to develop competent and capable foreign security forces.  Advising. Advising is the primary type of security force assistance and is the use of influence to teach, coach, and advise while working by, with, and through the foreign security force. Advising helps foreign security forces conduct independent decision making and operations, and advisors may also provide foreign security forces with direct access to joint and multinational capabilities, such as air support, artillery, medical evacuation, and intelligence.  Partnering. In partnering, the U.S. attaches units to host nation units at various levels in order to leverage the strengths of both U.S. and foreign security forces. Partnered units should establish combined cells for intelligence, operations, planning, and sustainment. While effective coordination is always required and initial efforts may require completely fused efforts, foreign security forces should eventually build the capability and capacity to conduct all efforts autonomously. Advising and partnering, while complementary, are distinct activities that can be performed simultaneously, sequentially, or in combination. U.S. units, such as Army BCTs, are partnering with the Iraqi and Afghan security forces. Examples include U.S. battalions conducting combined route clearance missions or manning combined checkpoints with host nation military units in their area of operations. The Army’s field manual notes that as a foreign security force’s capabilities mature, the echelon and degree of partnering decrease. For example, a U.S. Army battalion may initially partner with a foreign security force battalion, but as the foreign security force matures, a U.S. Army battalion may partner at a higher echelon such as with a foreign security force division while the U.S. battalion’s subordinate companies may partner with the foreign security force battalions. Like partnering, advising also can occur at various echelons of the foreign security force with the echelon of focus changing as foreign security forces mature. However, brigades have only recently assumed the advising mission in Iraq and Afghanistan. Specifically, prior to 2009 and 2010, respectively, the advising mission was conducted primarily with transition teams. These transition teams did not exist as units in any of the services’ force structures and were instead comprised of company- and field-grade officers and senior non-commissioned officers who were centrally identified and individually selected based on rank and specialty. For the Army alone, the number of individually sourced advisors— individually sourced advisors are those identified by Army Human Resources Command and assigned to transition teams—required to fill the transition teams in Iraq and Afghanistan at any one time totaled about 8,000 personnel. As we have previously reported, the demand for these leaders created challenges for the services because the leaders were generally pulled from other units or commands, which then were left to perform their missions while undermanned. In addition, the transition teams operated externally to the major combat units in their area of operations and reported to a different command structure, which led to a lack of unity of command that complicated coordination and communication between the transition teams and the combat units. The Army developed the concept of augmenting BCTs with specialized personnel to execute the advising mission, in part, as a means of alleviating these challenges. The replacement of transition teams with augmented BCTs was intended to mitigate strain on the Army by reducing the number of personnel who would have to be individually sourced by the Army Human Resources Command for the security force assistance advising mission, since the advisors would be able to leverage the capabilities of the existing BCTs for support functions, thus requiring fewer specially sourced individuals for the mission. Augmented BCTs also were intended to improve command and control over the mission by placing both the mission and personnel assigned to the mission under a single brigade commander. 6GAO, Iraq and Afghanistan: Availability of Forces, Equipment, and Infrastructure Should Be Considered in Developing U.S. Strategy and Plans, GAO-09-380T (Washington, D.C.: February 12, 2009). capabilities that should be considered when defining augment requirements, and the need to support advisor personnel with resources from the BCT.  Task organization: The BCT commander organizes the advisor augment personnel into advisor teams based on advising mission requirements in his area of operations. These advisor teams may be formed from organic resources from the brigade, external augmentation, or a combination of these.  Command and control: The BCT commander has command and control authority over the advisor personnel and advisor teams. The Army handbook notes the advantage of the advisor teams being under the command of the augmented BCT commander, with this unity of command resulting in a unity of effort and purpose.  Augmentation requirements: The field manual provides a basic conceptual design for augmentation, which can include personnel capabilities such as combat advisors, military police, or legal personnel. According to the field manual, the theater commander is to determine the precise mix of forces and augment capabilities— including the specific numbers and types of advisors—required for augmented BCTs in his area of operations, based upon the operational environment and mission requirements. As advising tasks change in response to the evolving needs of the host nation security force, the theater commander can re-tailor the augmentation (i.e., the specific numbers and types of advisors) provided to successive BCTs, accordingly.  BCT support of advisors: The field manual notes that the advisor teams may need resources from the brigade for support functions, such as specialized personnel, equipment, transportation, and security. This would allow the advisor teams to stay focused on advising. The handbook acknowledges, though, that the brigades may have other mission priorities in addition to security force assistance. Although the augmented BCTs are specially resourced with advisor personnel to advise, assist, and mentor the Iraqi and Afghan security forces, the brigades still must balance the security force assistance advising mission with other brigade missions. The security force assistance field manual also addresses the training that should be received by soldiers assigned to security force assistance missions. The Army has tasked the 162nd Infantry Training Brigade to provide advisor augment personnel with specialized advisor training on topics such as language and culture, host nation government and security forces, cross-cultural communication, and rapport building as part of their pre-deployment training. The program also includes leadership engagement scenarios where advisor team leaders engage with role players in simulated exchanges and opportunities for the advisors and brigade and battalion leadership to conduct combined planning exercises with simulated host nation security force leadership. The final stage of pre-deployment training for the augmented BCT is the mission rehearsal exercise, through which the advisor personnel and the BCT are expected to exercise the augmented BCT concept as an integrated unit. In addition to participating in combat and advising mission exercises, the scenario is intended to enable the BCT and its advisors the opportunity create advisor teams and establish the key command and control and support structures necessary for executing the mission in theater. The Army has deployed augmented BCTs in response to theater commanders’ requests; however, these units have faced challenges because theater commanders’ guidance did not always clearly define how these units were to perform key aspects of the augmented BCT concept and theater commanders’ requests did not include some requirements needed to support the advising mission, given the brigades’ resource limitations. As a result, brigade commanders have faced challenges determining how to prioritize their resources when supporting multiple missions in addition to the advising mission and providing specialized personnel, equipment, transportation, and security for the advisors. In addition, augmented BCTs and their assigned advisor personnel have sometimes lacked the unity of command envisioned under the Army’s augmented BCT concept. In 2009 and 2010, U.S. Central Command, on behalf of theater commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan, submitted requests for augmented BCTs for ongoing operations. In May 2009, the theater commander for Iraq requested forces for the augmentation of Iraq-bound BCTs with 48 field grade officers specially trained as advisors to execute the security force assistance advising mission. Likewise, in March 2010, the theater commander for Afghanistan submitted a request for forces for augmented BCTs that would each be augmented with a package of 48 advisor personnel—24 field grade officers and 24 non-commissioned officers. Both requests envisioned that the 48 advisor personnel would be organized into 24 two-man advisor teams and that the teams would receive all necessary support—including additional specialized personnel, equipment, and transportation and security support—from the brigades. The Army has been able to deploy augmented brigades to Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2009 and June 2010, respectively, in accordance with theater commanders’ requests. As of June 2011, there were six augmented BCTs operating in Iraq and nine in Afghanistan. The Army intends for all future BCTs deploying to Afghanistan to be augmented BCTs. Augmented BCTs have faced challenges allocating resources across missions and providing support to enable the advising mission because theater commanders did not always set clear priorities, ultimately leading to challenges for these units.