SFAAT deployments continue for ‘Highlander’ Brigade
Lt. Col. Joseph Bowman and Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Raines case the unit colors for the 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, during a ceremony June 26 in the battalion’s motor pool. Bowman ordered the colors cased as Soldiers and leaders from the “Strike Force” Battalion and brigade prepare to embark on an Afghanistan deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While deployed, Soldiers will conduct their mission in security force assistance adviser teams and continue to help Afghan Security Forces independently take control of the country’s security. Photo by Spc. Brandon A. Bednarek, 4th BCT, 1st AD Public Affairs.
Spc. Brandon A. Bednarek,
4th BCT, 1st AD Public Affairs:
In continuing the 4th Brigade Combat Team’s current mission, two more groups of “Highlander” Soldiers departed Fort Bliss June 27 and 28 in support Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
The group’s departure marks the third security force assistance adviser team, or SFAAT, to deploy since May, with the remainder of teams slated to arrive in eastern Afghanistan throughout the next several weeks.
While in country, the SFAATs’ main focus will be training and advising Afghan Security Forces to independently conduct unilateral security operations and transitioning them into an Afghan-run country capable of ensuring welfare and safety without the support of U.S. and NATO forces, said Lt. Col. Joseph Bowman, commander of the brigade’s 4th Special Troops Battalion.
Lt. Col. Joseph Bowman, commander of 4th Special Troops Battalion, and his wife Capt. Kim E. Bowman, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, await their departure to Afghanistan from Fort Bliss June 27 while at the installation’s Departure/Arrival Airfield Control Group facility. Together, the two officers will spend the next nine months conducting missions in Afghanistan as part of a security force assistance adviser team with other members of the brigade. Photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Rosales, 4th BCT, 1st AD Public Affairs.
Bowman, who will be the acting Afghan Uniform Police Provincial Headquarters chief, said the teams will face big challenges during their mission.
Traditionally, smaller Army units and teams work to support higher-echelon units, he said. For this particular mission, the SFAAT teams will provide the main effort, with larger units supporting the team’s requirements and needs.
Although Bowman is deploying only months after taking command of the “Strike Force” Battalion, he has found the opportunity to make the experience unique and interesting. For the first time in his career, he will be given the opportunity of serving in the same theater with three other family members.
“It’s great to be part of the 1st Armored Division family,” he said, “but it’s also great to be a part of this war effort with my wife and my two brothers.”
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