15 Principles of Security Force Assistance (SFA)

General John Allen served as COMISAF for over 18 months in Afghanistan. One of his big achievements was moving the U.S. forces from combat operations to conducting Security Force Assistance or SFA. This involved a mind-set shift for many U.S. company, battalion, and brigade commanders who saw their primary objective as engaging the enemy - not getting the Afghan National Security Forces to start doing combat operations. One tool that Gen Allen used to influence the commanders working at all levels to get into the SFA frame of mind was the issuing of the "Principles of Security Force Assistance". These 15 principles helped put the SFA mission into the proper perspective in the minds of the U.S. commanders. You can read the principles and view videos on the principles at the link below:

http://www.afghanwarnews.info/sfa/15principlesofsfa.htm