Africom Prepares the Ground

US Special Operations Forces will participate in another training exercise in Africa later this month, the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) announced. It is scheduled to take place in Senegal and extend into Mauritania. 1,700 Special Operation Forces from more than 30 nations are expected to participate in the exercise

Later in June another military exercise called Central Accord is planned. The event will be the second Central Accord exercise hosted by the Gabon’s Armed Forces.

Africom’s campaign blueprint is a five-year plan with five lines of effort:

The first is neutralizing the terror group al-Shabab in Somalia, officials said, and transitioning this effort from a mission led by the African Union Mission in Somalia to one in which the Somali government secures its own territory.

The second line of effort centers around the failed state of Libya, officials said, adding that the effort focuses on containing the instability in the country.

The third line of effort is to contain Boko Haram in West Africa.

Fourth, officials said, Africom will focus on disrupting illicit activity in the Gulf of Guinea and in Central Africa.

Fifth, the command looks to build African partners’ peacekeeping and disaster assistance capabilities, officials said.

The only permanent location the United States have is Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti but they do possess “cold bases” that would only be used in the event of an emergency. The bases allow the command to protect American lives and property in the high-risk, high-threat posts. There are 15 of those posts in Africa, US officials said.

Meanwhile, naval personnel from Eastern Africa, Western Indian Ocean island nations, Europe and the US, as well as several international organisations have commenced the multinational maritime exercise Cutlass Express. Cutlass Express tactical commander and Task Force 65/Destroyer Squadron 60 deputy commodore Captain Tate Westbrook said: "Security of commerce, protection of maritime economic assets, and the prevention of piracy and illicit trafficking is a critical mission that directly affects all maritime nations. Once again Djibouti was a key base.