A fascinating discussion of the Security Forces Assistance Mission, to which I'd like to contribute a few facts and opinions.

First, and most important, is the question of whether this is an enduring mission. The Secretary of Defense certainly thought it was at the AUSA Conference last October: "Arguably, the most important military component in the War on Terror is not the fighting we do ourselves, but how well we enable and empower our partners to defend and govern their own countries." He also doesn't (or at least didn't, back on October 10th), think that we have it quite right yet: "How the Army should be organized and prepared for this advisory role remains an open question, and will require innovative and forward thinking.”

Second is the nature and quality of the training for MTT teams here at Fort Riley. This is improving, due in no small part to the fact that the number of former advisors assigned to do the training continues to increase; my battalion of 96 now has 13 former advisors assigned, many in the critically important field grade/company commander/first sergeant roles. Not where we need to be, yet, but moving in the right direction. Similarly, the nascent doctrine for GPF engaging in SFA, now being written by the Air Land Sea folks, is also an important institutional adaptation to the wars we're fighting.

Some good news. However, advisors continue to wonder how the mission they're executing--the enabler of our exit strategy in two wars--will be rewarded by the Army. There are moves in the direction of an advisor Additional Skill Identifer, which would obviously be helpful in tracking this skill set for the Long War, and toward granting KD credit for those who successfully lead TT teams--but there are more incentives that could be offered to increase the desire of our best and brightest to volunteer for this mission, in my eyes at least the most important we're doing as an Army.

As for where we conduct SFA training, that is perhaps less important than any of the other elements of DOTMLPF. Most important is that the Army embrace the necessity to view the combat advisory mission holistically, from Doctrine through Facilities, and within the context of a broader DoD and USG advisory perspective. "Innovative and forward thinking" on this critical mission remains necessary--as does execution of decisions on DOTMLPF.