Overview

One of the most difficult security challenges of the post-Cold War era has been stabilizing failing states in an era of irregular warfare. A component of the strategy to address this problem has been security force assistance where outside powers train and advise the host nation's military. Despite billions spent, thousands of advisors, and innumerable casualties, the American efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq failed. Among those colossal military disasters were pockets of success. Frank K. Sobchak explores security force assistance across five case studies, examining what factors were most critical for U.S. Special Forces units to build capable partners. The book assesses the impact of five components of Special Forces advisory missions: language training and cultural awareness; the partner force-to-advisor ratio; the advisors' ability to organize host-nation forces; whether advisors are permitted to guide in combat; and the consistency in advisor pairing. Sobchak argues that the most crucial factors in producing combat-effective partners are consistency in advisor pairing and maintaining a partner force-to-advisor ratio of twelve special forces soldiers advising a company-sized force or smaller. Many of these findings could be used to improve the odds of success for larger security-force assistance missions.

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Frank K. Sobchak is a retired Special Forces colonel who served in various assignments in war and peace during a twenty-six-year military career. He is chair of irregular warfare studies at the Modern War Institute, United States Military Academy, a senior fellow at the Global and National Security Institute, University of South Florida, and a fellow (contributor) for the MirYam Institute. Dr. Sobchak is the coauthor of the acclaimed two-volume The U.S. Army in the Iraq War and has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, Time, the Jerusalem Post, Defense One, the Hill, and the Small Wars Journal. His doctorate is from Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is married to his West Point classmate, Lt. Col. Iris Sobchak (Ret.), and they live in Holliston, Massachusetts, with their four children. Lee Goettl is a seasoned narrator with over 180 audiobooks to his credit, including the Jake Adams International Espionage series. Working from his professional home studio in Wisconsin, Lee specializes in historical fiction, mystery, and dense nonfiction. Known for his reliability and clear, engaging delivery, he brings a grounded, authentic tone to every project, ensuring listeners stay connected from the first chapter to the last. Lee Goettl is a seasoned narrator with over 180 audiobooks to his credit, including the Jake Adams International Espionage series. Working from his professional home studio in Wisconsin, Lee specializes in historical fiction, mystery, and dense nonfiction. Known for his reliability and clear, engaging delivery, he brings a grounded, authentic tone to every project, ensuring listeners stay connected from the first chapter to the last.

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