Advisors at the Edge: 5th SFAB Showcases How Persistent Presence Builds Advantage in the Indo-Pacific

HONOLULU – At a time when geopolitical competition is intensifying across the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. Army’s 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) is quietly shifting the strategic calculus through presence, trust, and partnership. At this year’s LANPAC Conference in Honolulu, leaders from the brigade took the stage during the Commander’s Corner to outline how their forward-deployed advisor teams are shaping outcomes, enabling deterrence, and reinforcing partner capabilities across a region that spans more than half of the world’s population.

“Our presence on key terrain isn't just symbolic,” said Lt. Col. Hodermarsky, "it creates dilemmas for our adversaries and proves that we're invested enough to stand side-by-side with our allies."

5th SFAB, based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, currently deploys force packages of more than 100 advisors on six-month rotations to strategic locations across the Indo-Pacific, including Mongolia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Unlike traditional rotational forces, SFAB advisor teams integrate deeply within partner units — living and training alongside them to build combined capacity from the inside out.

In a region defined by long distances, overlapping territorial disputes, and gray zone tactics, land power plays a critical role. The U.S. Army Pacific’s Theater Strategy calls for “getting in position to compete, fight, and win,” and 5th SFAB’s mission directly supports that vision by enhancing interoperability, improving readiness, and setting conditions for successful joint operations.

As Lt. Col. Hodermarsky noted, “SFAB advisors are USARPAC’s strategic scouts. We’re embedded in key terrain, close to where it matters most and able to see, sense, and shape the environment before crises escalate.”

The concept of positional advantage, emphasized in USARPAC’s campaign strategy, isn’t just about geography. It’s about being first in the fight for influence, access, and trust. 5th SFAB teams have observed that their long-term relationships with partner armies yield meaningful results, including access to previously closed events, doctrinal adaptation, and co-development of training and leader education models.

A clear example is in the Philippines, where 5th SFAB advisors were recently invited to observe and provide feedback during “Katihan,” a previously internal Philippine Army exercise. “This was a direct result of trust we’ve built through multiple rotations,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Justin Stewart. “The Philippine Army is transitioning from internal security operations to a territorial defense posture, and our feedback is now shaping how they execute modernization strategies during exercises like Salaknib and Balikatan.”

In Malaysia, SFAB advisors have played a critical role in connecting U.S. planning efforts to Malaysian senior leaders during the development of the Cross-Regional Training Area (CRTA). Their persistent presence has become a force multiplier bridging communication gaps, conducting range reconnaissance, and enabling exercises like HIMARS live-fire events without requiring a large U.S. footprint.

Perhaps the most transformational impact can be seen in Mongolia, where SFAB has led the “ZEV” series since 2021, focusing specifically on NCO development within the Mongolian Armed Forces. “The results were so successful within the Land Forces Command that it led to a policy shift,” Stewart shared. “Now, Team Sergeant and Platoon Leader courses are being implemented across other Mongolian components, replicating what we started together.”

These outcomes reflect one of 5th SFAB’s core strengths: developing resilient, capable, and interoperable NCO corps within partner nations. As battlefields become more complex and decision-making more decentralized, empowering noncommissioned officers has never been more essential.

“The NCO of the future must be able to operate with disciplined initiative in a contested, multi-domain environment,” Stewart explained. “We’re helping our partners build that capability; not by telling them what to do, but by showing them what’s possible.”

In a key leader engagement with the Philippine Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, SFAB advisors helped address a critical challenge: enlisted comprehension of English-language doctrine. Through coordination with the Defense Language Institute, they helped secure funding for an English Language Lab within the PA Sergeant Major Course, ensuring broader institutional reach and doctrinal literacy across the force.

Across all mission sets, from doctrinal development to combined arms maneuver and joint integration, SFAB advisors offer something unique: they stay. Long after the major exercises conclude and most forces redeploy, SFAB teams remain engaged, building on after-action reviews and helping partner units prepare for the next iteration.

“As the surge ends, the vacuum begins,” Stewart said. “Our presence ensures that vacuum doesn’t get filled by malign influence. It’s a strategic intercept. We’re the connective tissue between exercises, operations, and enduring advantage.”

From the outside, SFAB advisors may seem like a small footprint. But their impact is outsized. At LANPAC, leaders across the Indo-Pacific were reminded that integrated deterrence isn’t just built by ships and missiles it’s built by people, relationships, and presence.

“In this theater,” Lt. Col. Hodermarsky concluded, “nothing says we’re serious more than our Soldiers standing side-by-side with our allies. We don’t just visit. We’re there persistently — and that makes all the difference.”