WASHINGTON —
Nearing its 100th day of its deployment in Afghanistan, the highly trained and specialized 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade for the NATO Resolute Support mission is seeing results, the brigade's commander said today.
“We confirm that we had the right training to prepare us to train, advise, assist, accompany and enable our Afghan partners,” Army Col. Scott Jackson told Pentagon reporters via videoconference from Kabul, Afghanistan.
“The manner in which the SFAB operates requires a degree of specialized training, providing self-sufficiency in difficult and complex situations,” he said.
In the time the brigade has been in Afghanistan, Jackson explained, the troops have witnessed Afghan forces taking the fight to the enemy and using their own resources. Afghan forces have used air assets, artillery and ground maneuvers with success in the fight.
The Army announced the creation of SFABs in February 2017.
The 1st SFAB was designed and equipped for the specialized mission in training, advising, assisting, accompanying and enabling Afghan forces from the kandak to the corps level, Jackson said. A kandak is roughly the size of a battalion.
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