US Special Operations forces in Africa are preparing for one
of their biggest exercises of the year, a multinational event that spans
several West African countries. Chad announced that it would host the Flintlock
2015 exercise, which kicks off Feb. 16 in the capital N'Djamena, with joint
training exercises also taking place in Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Tunisia
for several weeks before the event wraps up on March 9. The exercise will bring
together approximately 1,300 troops from African and NATO countries, including
673 African forces, 365 NATO forces and 255 US personnel who will take part in
a variety of tactical engagements. The operation is almost tailor made for the
direction that the US Special Operations Command has set for the troops that it
is training and equipping to operate in a post-Afghanistan and Iraq world.
While the SOCOM commander doesn't have operational control
over the approximately 70,000 SOF currently on active duty, an initiative led
by former commander Adm. William McRaven is helping to inform how the forces
operate under the direction of the global combatant commanders, who exert
operational control over the SOF under their command. When taking over the helm
of SOCOM in 2011, McRaven introduced his plan to keep his forward-deployed
operators supplied not only with the latest intelligence on their area of
operations, but also to link them up with their SOF brethren around the globe. Dubbed
the Global SOF Network, the program connects SOF around the globe to one
another as well as with US government interagency partners and regional allies,
building on the decade-long relationship that American and NATO SOF had forged
through combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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