Risks to the international system have never been more evident, given Russia’s war in Ukraine and China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific. Initial military observations from the Russia-Ukraine war reinforce then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley’s idea, expressed in his commencement speech to the West Point Class of 2022, that the nature of warfare is immutable.

The U.S. Army must prepare for the combined arms fight by retaining the world-class fundamental warfighting capability that the U.S. has come to expect from its Army. The nation and the military also should expect that the Army can assist allies and mission partners in their readiness training to reinvest in world-class combined warfighting.

To achieve success, the U.S. may need to reconsider elements of the military’s conception of deterrence and focus national defense thinking on limiting the success of an adversarial invasion. Viewing security force assistance from just the lens of deterrence only tells half the story. In one such observation, research fellow Nick Reynolds at the U.K.’s Royal United Services Institute argued that security force assistance in Ukraine had failed, concluding that efforts since 2014 were unsuccessful in preventing Russia’s 2022 invasion. (Reynolds’ article, “Security Force Assistance to Ukraine and the Failure of Deterrence,” was published online in March 2022.)

Significant Assistance

In response, the U.S. military might consider the possibility that security force assistance is critical to the defense of Ukraine and has significantly contributed to Russia’s inability to maintain any meaningful initiative in its offensive operations.

We won’t argue that here, but we are hopeful that we might briefly demonstrate some areas in which U.S. Army security force assistance brigade (SFAB) support is meeting partners where they are and producing results. SFABs already are assisting joint force commanders in achieving combined readiness with comparatively low risk to the Army’s current large-scale combat operations, readiness training and the Army 2030 transformation.

We accept that SFABs may need to be restructured to accommodate the Multi-Domain Operations concept. However, we challenge the notion that the Army of 2030 can conduct successful allied and partnered multidomain or large-scale combat operations without SFABs.

Different from Western nations, both the People’s Republic of China’s and Russia’s operating concepts do not necessarily differentiate between subthreshold activities and those of warfare. Subthreshold activities happen below the level of armed conflict, with China and Russia viewing their efforts more akin to a continuum of war by applying more permissible operating constructs to those activities. While illegitimate from moral, legal and rules-based international conventions perspectives, both nations have demonstrated their willingness to regularly violate agreements they have signed and legally ratified.

Contemporary examples of this include expansionist ambitions and policy in the South and East China seas practiced by the Communist Chinese Party that inherently violate the U.N. Convention on Law of the Sea, and the continued attempts by Russia to impose its will on former Soviet satellite republics.

At present, China’s “reef enhancements” in the South and East China seas have produced great concern and international tensions that could potentially cause regional instability. Russia’s attempts to create a buffer region since the early 1990s also introduced volatility, producing armed conflict in Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ukraine, to name only a few contested regions.

Now, the world continues to witness an unrestricted large-scale combat operation in Ukraine—which many observers and analysts denied was even possible in the post-modern world. It is interesting to imagine what outcomes might differ in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus region had the SFAB model been previously available for combined arms training at scale.

Indo-Pacific Option

U.S. Army SFAB efforts in the Indo-Pacific region are a low-cost option for the Army and joint force to compete in areas beneath the threshold of armed conflict through integrated deterrence. The 5th SFAB, based at Joint Based Lewis-McChord, Washington, is deeply familiar with the Indo-Pacific region due to its training focus, alignment with U.S. Army Pacific and persistent rotations into the Indo-Pacific.

Here’s how the 5th SFAB helps in the region:

• Continuing 5th SFAB investments in Indo-Pacific allies and partners support the Army’s regionally aligned readiness and modernization model by allowing brigade combat teams the space and time to conduct unbroken modernization and readiness training.

• Indo-Pacific allies and partners have quickly adopted, supported and continue to request the 5th SFAB partnership, allowing the U.S. Army and joint force to “meet them where they are” without the political risk sometimes associated with a significant and persistent forward presence.

Building a network of allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific region is critical to the U.S. National Security Strategy. America remains powerful in Indo-Pacific security networks and is the nation of choice for Indo-Pacific countries to partner with to confront security challenges.

To that end, in a statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2023, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said, “The Army contributes to deterrence by campaigning, which plays three important functions in the Indo-Pacific: complicating Chinese decision making; enhancing U.S. access to the region; and placing combat-credible and interoperable land forces forward to create interior lines for the Joint Force.”

The leaders of U.S. partners and allies recognize that training together to build interoperability is critical to maintaining a free and open Pacific. During the Association of the U.S. Army 2023 LANPAC Symposium and Exposition in Honolulu, Malaysian Chief Gen. Mohammad Ab Rahman; Gen. Ahn Byung-Seok, deputy commander of South Korea’s Combined Forces Command; and Philippine army Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner agreed that greater cooperation and multiechelon training are necessary for mutual security. Military leaders in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia recognize that the 5th SFAB provides critical training and relationship-building essential to contribute to their security requirements.

Foreign Army Advocates

Given its proximity to the South China Sea and China, the Philippines remains a geographically strategic country in the Indo-Pacific region. During LANPAC, Brawner advocated the role of multilateral and training exercises and how they contribute to deterrence.

The 5th SFAB was essential in preserving and fostering training and relationships before, during and after the large-scale exercises Brawner highlighted. SFAB teams demonstrated the United States’ commitment to the strategic relationship when a maneuver adviser team and a logistics adviser team were deployed to the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Philippine army recognized the value of SFAB teams and continued to request SFAB teams to train with, including logistical integration and advanced medical training.

The 5th SFAB continues persistent interoperability training with the Philippine army’s premier 1st Brigade Combat Team at Fort Magsaysay. The 5th SFAB and the Philippine army partnership strengthens the network required for integrated deterrence.

Thailand also is a longtime and integral part of U.S. security operations in the Indo-Pacific. Teams from the 5th SFAB have been working with the Royal Thai Army since 2020 and have been sought after by their Royal Thai Army counterparts.

Specifically, the 5th SFAB has worked consistently with elements of the Royal Thai Army’s premier 11th Infantry Division and its 112th and 111th Regiments. With these persistent relationships, the 5th SFAB can build trust and confidence between the Royal Thai Army and the U.S. Army, unlike when brigade combat tams briefly visit Thailand during large-scale exercises.

The relationship-building and mutual trust developed resulted in the chief of staff to the Royal Thai Army, Commander in Chief Gen. Songwit Noonpakdee, visiting the 5th SFAB at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to discuss the continuing partnership between the 5th SFAB and the Royal Thai Army.

Small, persistently engaged SFAB teams create strategic relationships that give Army and DoD leaders flexibility and future options.

One of the most enthusiastic proponents of working with the 5th SFAB teams came from Indonesia. Gen. Andika Perkasa, while he was commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, went out of his way to talk with members of the 5th SFAB. Twelve-person 5th SFAB teams began training with members of the Indonesian army in 2021 at Perkasa’s direction and have continued since.

The SFAB teams in Indonesia set conditions for large-scale exercises like Super  Garuda Shield while developing and maintaining relationships across multiple Indonesian army units nationwide. The SFAB teams provide strategic information and context to U.S. Army senior leaders.

Added Value

SFAB formations provide joint force commanders and Army senior leaders significant value in relationship-building and security cooperation with allies and partners to address global U.S. security concerns. Resources in terms of staffing, funding and investments will always be constrained. Most importantly, SFABs contribute to maintaining the rules-based international system with persistent engagements, interoperability training and relationship-building.

Concurrently, SFAB partnership operations protect brigade combat team readiness, sustain the momentum of Army modernization efforts and develop Army leaders through Advanced Individual Training, expeditionary deployment experience and partner integration.

As demonstrated in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. partners and allies desire continued combined interoperability training for the foreseeable future. SFABs are uniquely designed to meet these multiple requirements for integrated deterrence.

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Col. David Rowland is commander of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Fort Myer, Virginia. Previously, he commanded the 1st Battalion, 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade. He served numerous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the author of Green Light, Go!: The Story of an Army Start Up.

Lt. Col. S.W. Orr is a U.S. Army exchange officer assigned as deputy director of special operations and plans, Australian Special Operations Command, Canberra, Australia. Previously, he served as the brigade operations officer, 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade.