This AY-10 USAWC resident student paper examines the opportunity for Army National Guard Soldiers to train/assist and mentor host-nation security forces. The paper includes:

(1) analysis of the current structure of Brigade Combat Teams augmented for security force assistance,
(2) exploration of future challenges of operating in a counterinsurgency environment and of the development of the Guard to augment the U.S. Total Force by building foreign competency and capacity, and
(3) background regarding the extent of the experience and partnerships that the Guard can offer to security force assistance teams.

The paper concludes by offering recommendations for further development to enable additional citizen soldiers' effectiveness in contingency operations in the 21st century.