It's Not New: Historical U.S. Army Security Forces Assistance Efforts
Abstract
The 2010 U.S. National Security Strategy emphasized that the United States would use security sector assistance to build the capacity of at-risk nations and reduce the appeal of violent extremism in those nations. The 2010 Department of Defense Quadrennial Review responded by announcing that it would strengthen and institutionalize the U.S. military's general purpose force capabilities for security force assistance to accomplish U.S. strategic objectives. The use of general purpose military forces in a security force assistance role is not a new concept for the U.S. military. It conducted similar operations in Greece from 1947 to 1950, Iran from 1957 to 1960, and Vietnam from 1950 to 1964. This monograph found that the use of advisors to advise, assist, equip, organize, and train indigenous security forces and build or rebuild infrastructure in Greece and Iran was an efficient way to achieve U.S. national strategic objectives. In Vietnam, U.S. military advisors conducted the same tasks that they had conducted or were conducting in Greece and Iran, but they were unable to put down internal unrest and defeat external aggression, which forced the United States to eventually introduce major combat forces in the years following the period examined in the case study. The intent of this research is not to make specific recommendations for current U.S. advisory missions, but to point out that the actions taken in Greece, Iran, and Vietnam indicate that advisory efforts can be an efficient means to achieve national security objectives. Direct parallels between the cases presented and those of Afghanistan and Iraq are topics of further research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 06, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA569937
Entities
People
- James D. Scrogin
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College