Military Review English Edition July-August 2015 | Page 88

Development of Regionally Aligned
Forces

The regionally aligned forces concept emerged in
2013 in response to a perception that more than a
decade of experience with prolonged conflict in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and elsewhere had shown that U.S. armed
forces were not always prepared to manage the cultural
challenges associated with many relatively nonpermissive and complex operational environments. The
concept also emerged in response to requests from
combatant commanders for additional capabilities to
support their individual requirements. Additionally,
the national military strategy began to place a greater
emphasis on political, economic, and informational engagement elements with a collective focus on
preventing wars in volatile areas by mitigating causes
of conflicts before situations degenerated into social
collapse and open warfare.
The African continent has become an area of special
concern. It is three times the size of the United States, and
it includes the following complexities: fifty-four nations;
approximately one billion people divided into more than
four hundred ethnic groups; thirty-five major languages,
not including hundreds of local and regional dialects; and
seven of the world’s fastest growing economies. In addition, it has vast untapped natural resources in an era of
increasing global competition for vital commodities.1
Moreover, instability in many nations on the
African continent has attracted terrorist and global
insurgent groups with implacable hatred of the West.
These groups are attempting to find new bases in remote locations for mounting continued attacks against
U.S. interests at home and abroad.
As a result, the Department of Defense established
USAFRICOM as a geographic combatant command
in 2007, with a keen awareness of the sociopolitical
sensitivity of African states toward engagement with
the armed forces of nations from outside the African
continent.2 This sensitivity is due in part to a history of
Western colonization, slavery, exploitation, and a bitter
legacy of anticolonial wars.
The initial objectives of USAFRICOM included
establishing a high-level system of engagement in order
to develop long-term cooperative relationships and
contingencies for managing international crises of mutual concern to the United States and African nations.
The command was tasked with providing support to
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nations requesting help in professionalizing their armed
forces. It was understood such help would be offered on
the U.S. model, which not only provides skills training
but also emphasizes at every stage the responsibility of
professional military members to support democracy,
democratically elected leaders, and human rights.
To carry out engagement missions, the regionally
aligned forces concept allocates specific Army forces
to geographic combatant commanders under concepts outlined in numerous documents, starting with
the 2010 National Security Strategy.3 Additionally,
the 2012 defense strategic guidance outlines ten priority missions for regionally aligned forces, including
the ability to provide a stabilizing presence abroad
allowing for regional access.4 The Capstone Concept
for Joint Operations: Joint Force 2020 also states the
future joint force will be prepared to conduct globally integrated operations with its mission partners.5
Finally, the 2012 Army Strategic Planning Guidance
provides greater detail as to intent by stating that
“Regional alignment provides an effective approach
for non-traditional threats in an increasingly interdependent security environment.”6
Regionally aligned forces are intended to provide
combatant commanders with dedicated capabilities,
oriented to sociocultural and political aspects of specific geographical areas, that can rapidly task organize
to execute a range of missions and contingency operations. As such, regionally aligned forces are supposed to
provide quickly tailored capabilities to meet the needs
of diverse nations with clearly articulated and appropriate authorities for employment.7
The 2nd ABCT operated under the direction of
USARAF, performing missions aimed at achieving
overall U.S. strategic goals in Africa. Initial missions
included conducting senior leader engagements and
host-nation security cooperation missions to build
partnering relationships.8 The missions either fulfilled
or complemented ongoing theater security cooperation agreements, security force assistance, or Army
National Guard State Partnership Program initiatives. According to a U.S. Army War College research
paper by Col. Kristian Matthew Marks in 2013, these
missions strengthened defense relationships within the
Army’s strategic framework of prevent, shape, and win
by employing in various roles both Active and Reserve
Component Army elements.9
July-August 2015  MILITARY REVIEW