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Military advisors or combat advisors are military personnel deployed to advise on military matters. The term is often used for soldiers sent to foreign countries [1] to aid such countries' militaries with their military education and training, organization, and other various military tasks. The foreign powers or organizations may send such soldiers to support countries or insurgencies while minimizing the risks of potential casualties and avoiding the political ramifications of overtly mobilizing military forces to aid an ally.
The French Marquis de Lafayette and the Prussian Baron von Steuben offered key assistance to the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783.
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The Soviet Union deployed military advisors in (for example) Spain, China and Angola, where "The 1976 treaty of friendship and cooperation provided for Soviet-Angolan military cooperation in strengthening the mutual defense capacity. Moscow immediately provided weaponry and supplies, and some 500 military advisors." [2]
In China, the "Soviet Union ..sent about 1500 military advisors ..during this period [1937-39]. Included were some of the red Army's best officers [...] Georgii Zhukov [...] Vasilii I. Chuikov [...] P.F. Batitsky [...] Andrey A. Vlasov [...]. Like Spain, China served as a training ground for Soviet officers." [3]
During the Spanish Civil War, Germany deployed a large number of 'volunteers', also known as the Condor Legion, to serve as mercenaries and pilots to assist the nationalist forces. Approximately 300 out of a total of 16,000 German citizens fighting in the war were killed. [4]
During the Interwar Period, German Military advisors under Alexander von Falkenhausen were involved in modernising the National Revolutionary Army.
the German Empire sent advisors to the Ottoman Empire, notably generals such as Otto Liman Von Sanders and Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz
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T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") became arguably the archetypal British military advisor due to his guerrilla role (1916–1918) in the Arab Revolt. [5]
Developing capabilities and increasing capacity through advising is an operation the U.S. Army has conducted for more than one hundred years. The Army has performed advisory missions to increase the capability and capacity of foreign militaries from the Philippine Insurrection at the beginning of the 20th century to more recent conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. [6]
In the early 1960s elements of the U.S. Army Special Forces and Echo 31 went to South Vietnam as military advisors to train and assist the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) for impending actions against the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN). United States Marines also filled a significant role as advisors to Vietnamese forces. [7]
Combat advisors served during the U.S. war on terror. They were designated as Embedded Training Teams (ETTs) in Afghanistan and as Military Transition Teams (MTTs) in Iraq. These soldiers and Marines live with their Afghan and Iraqi counterparts (often in very austere and stoic[ clarification needed ] conditions) in remote combat outposts often a great distance away from any U.S. or coalition support.
ETTs and MTTs are composed primarily of United States Army, National Guard, and Marine Corps personnel with a combat-arms background. United States Army Reserve, United States Air Force and United States Navy personnel serve as advisors in logistics and other support roles. The advisors on the ground in infantry or commando units of the ANA (Afghan National Army) or the Iraqi Army are soldiers or Marines with combat-arms experience. Special Forces and Navy SEALS also work with ANA/ASF or with the Iraqi Army, but the bulk of combat advisors are infantry and combat-arms soldiers and Marines.
The Combat Advisor Mission Defined. The combat advisor mission requires US officers and NCOs to teach, coach and mentor host nation (HN) security force counterparts. This enables the rapid development of our counterparts' leadership capabilities; helps develop command and control (C2) and operational capabilities at every echelon; allows direct access to Coalition Forces (CF) enablers to enhance HN security force counterinsurgency (COIN) operations; and incorporates CF lethal and nonlethal effects on the battlefield. [8]
Security Forces Assistance (SFA) defines a more in-depth method of embedded mentorship. MTTs have fallen[ when? ] into disuse with shifts in focus and doctrine. Specifically, previous MTTs were drawn from soldiers from separate units, often on an ad hoc basis. SFATs, on the other hand, provide all personnel from organic, modular Brigade Combat Teams rather than supplying personnel piece-meal from various Army units. By design, these teams are manned by a company command team and selected leaders from one command. This SFAT concept has been in place since 2012, with a "by, with and through" method of combat advising. Current Advisory Teams are trained at Fort Polk, Louisiana at the Advisor Academy, "Tigerland". [9]
A Vietnam veteran is an individual who performed active military, naval, or air service in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
A Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) is a designation for a group of United States military advisors sent to other countries to assist in the training of conventional armed forces and facilitate military aid. Although numerous MAAGs operated around the world throughout the 1940s–1970s, including in Yugoslavia after 1951, the most famous MAAGs were those active in Southeast Asia before and during the Vietnam War.
The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers 21,000,000 square miles (54,000,000 km2) and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, The Caucasus, Russia and Greenland. The Commander of the United States EUCOM simultaneously serves as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) within NATO, a military alliance. During the Gulf War and Operation Northern Watch, EUCOM controlled the forces flying from Incirlik Air Base.
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV) was a specialist unit of military advisors of the Australian Army that operated during the Vietnam War. Raised in 1962, the unit was formed solely for service as part of Australia's contribution to the war, providing training and assistance to South Vietnamese forces. Initially numbering only approximately 30 men, the size of the unit grew several times over the following years as the Australian commitment to South Vietnam gradually grew, with the unit's strength peaking at 227 in November 1970. Members of the team worked individually or in small groups, operating throughout the country from the far south to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the north. Later they were concentrated in Phước Tuy Province as Australian forces prepared to withdraw from Vietnam. It is believed to be the most decorated Australian unit to serve in Vietnam; its members received over 100 decorations, including four Victoria Crosses, during its existence. The unit was withdrawn from South Vietnam on 18 December 1972 and was disbanded in Australia on 16 February 1973. A total of 1,009 men served with the unit over a period of ten years, consisting of 998 Australians and 11 New Zealanders.
Tiger stripe is the name of a group of camouflage patterns developed for close-range use in dense jungle during jungle warfare by the South Vietnamese Armed Forces and adopted in late 1962 to early 1963 by US Special Forces during the Vietnam War. During and after the Vietnam War, the pattern was adopted by several other Asian countries. It derives its name from its resemblance to a tiger's stripes and were simply called "tigers." It features narrow stripes that look like brush-strokes of green and brown, and broader brush-strokes of black printed over a lighter shade of olive or khaki. The brush-strokes interlock rather than overlap, as in French Lizard pattern (TAP47) from which it apparently derives.
A Military Transition Team or Transition Team, commonly abbreviated as MiTT, in the context of the United States Military, is a 10 – 15 soldier team that trains foreign national and local security forces. The term has been used in the "War on Terror" to designate groups training the Iraqi Security Forces in particular. By comparison, Afghan Army and other Afghan security forces are mentored and trained by US Embedded Training Teams (ETTs) and the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLTs) of other nations.
The 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment is an attack helicopter battalion of the Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. The battalion is an AH-64 Apache battalion based at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
The Iraq Assistance Group (IAG) was a joint service U.S. military command responsible to Multi-National Corps Iraq. It coordinated military transition teams assisting the reborn Iraqi Army, the Federal Police, the Department of Border Enforcement, Ports of Entry Directorate and the provincial police. These teams provided partnership, mentoring and training to assist their Iraqi partners in achieving full operational effectiveness and facilitating the transition of internal security to Iraqi control. The Iraq Assistance Group itself was a joint command formed from the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division and composed of mostly Army soldiers but also including a sizable contingent of sailors, airmen and marines as well as members of foreign militaries.
William Dawson Waugh was a United States Army Special Forces soldier and Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary operations officer who served more than 50 years between the United States Army's Green Berets and the CIA's Special Activities Division.
The Battle of Ba Gia was a major battle that marked the beginning of the Viet Cong's (VC) Summer Offensive of 1965, during the early phases of the Vietnam War. The battle took place in Quảng Ngãi Province, South Vietnam, between May 28–31, 1965.
The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division ("Raiders") is an inactive Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) of the United States Army. The brigade was activated at Fort Lewis, Washington on 1 June 2006 by reflagging the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. The 4th Stryker Brigade had the distinction of being the last U.S. Army combat brigade to serve in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The brigade deployed three times in support of the War on Terror, to Iraq from 2007–2008 and from 2009–2010, and to Afghanistan from 2012–2013 before inactivating in March 2014.
Embedded Training Teams or ETT is the term used by the US military since 2003 to describe conventional forces used to train and mentor Afghan forces. They were formed in 2003 under Task Force Phoenix. Although ETT refers to the Embedded Training "Team", members of the team itself commonly refer to themselves as "ETTs"
The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (10th SFG (A), or 10th Group) is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) Group. 10th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare (UW), foreign internal defense (FID), direct action (DA), counterinsurgency, special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, information operations, counter-proliferation of weapon of mass destruction, and security force assistance. 10th Group is responsible for operations within the EUCOM area of responsibility, as part of Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).
The 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (5th SFG (A), 5th Group) is one of the most decorated active duty United States Army Special Forces groups. The 5th SFG (A) saw extensive action in the Vietnam War and played a pivotal role in the early months of Operation Enduring Freedom. 5th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counter-insurgency, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, information operations, counterproliferation of weapon of mass destruction, and security force assistance.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division is an airborne infantry brigade combat team (BCT) of the United States Army. The unit is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska and is the only airborne brigade combat team in the Pacific Theater. It is also the newest airborne Infantry BCT and one of only five in the United States Army; the others are the three Infantry BCTs of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
The U.S. Army Special Forces traces its roots as the Army's premier proponent of unconventional warfare from purpose-formed special operations units like the Alamo Scouts, Philippine guerrillas, First Special Service Force, and the Operational Groups (OGs) of the Office of Strategic Services. Although the OSS was not an Army organization, many Army personnel were assigned to the OSS and later used their experiences to influence the forming of Special Forces.
The 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade is a security force assistance brigade of the United States Army. It is based at Kelley Hill in Fort Moore, Georgia and is under the command of Colonel Brian Ducote and Command Sergeant Major Christopher Goodart. On February 8, 2018, the 1st SFAB held its official activation ceremony at the National Infantry Museum at Fort Moore.
A Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) (pronounced ESS-fab) is a specialized United States Army unit formed to conduct security force assistance (SFA) missions: to train, advise, assist, enable and accompany operations with allied and partner nations. SFABs are intended to reduce the burden of such operations on conventionally-organized Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), allowing BCTs to focus on fighting near-peer threats.
The 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade is a Security force assistance brigade of the United States Army. It is based in Fort Cavazos, Texas.
By June 22nd, 1941, Zhukov was probably Stalin's most trusted military advisor.Compare: Sandler, Stanley, ed. (2002). Ground Warfare: An International Encyclopedia. Warfare Series. Vol. 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 127. ISBN 9781576073445 . Retrieved 2014-01-15.
Brusilov next served as the provisional government's military advisor (February–May 1917) [...] He did act as Red Army chief adviser against Poland (1920) [...].
[Lawrence] discusses the troubles, motivations, and strengths of an Arab insurgency, as well as the challenges he faced as military advisor.