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TUNIS, Tunisia — The seventh consecutive year of African Lion exercises in Tunisia commenced with an opening ceremony at El Aouina Air Base in Tunis, April 29, 2024. This year’s event marks a significant milestone as U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) leads the exercise for U.S. Army Africa Command, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the African Lion exercise series.
Under the leadership of SETAF-AF, African Lion 2024 in Tunisia showcases the commitment of the U.S. military to maintaining robust relationships with allies and partners, embodying the core principles to its approach in Africa: partner-led and U.S.-enabled.
"We are very grateful for our Tunisian hosts. They continue to demonstrate their professionalism and hospitality," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John A. LeBlanc, SETAF-AF deputy commanding general. "This multinational engagement is designed to prevent conflicts, deter adversary aggression and ensure readiness to respond effectively to any crisis."
AL 2024 in Tunisia features diverse training activities aimed at fostering interoperability and readiness among participating forces. Multiple training areas will be utilized throughout the country, including Bizerte, El Aouina Air Base in Tunis, the Port of Gabes and the Ben Ghilouf Training Area.
Ben Ghilouf will feature live-fire exercises, including heavy artillery with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and a field training exercise. Concurrently in Bizerte, the focus will be chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training, as well as explosive ordnance disposal operations.
Additionally, a range of academic courses covering military intelligence, civil affairs, air-ground integration, public affairs and legal studies focused on the rule of law will be conducted during the exercise period.
The exercise runs until May 10, 2024, in Tunisia, but will continue until May 31 in three other host nations: Morocco, Ghana and Senegal. While more than 1,000 military personnel from both the U.S. and Tunisia are participating here, more than 8,000 multinational service members from 27 countries and contingents from NATO will participate in the exercise.
“It’s important to highlight the fact that those numbers include members of the Army, Air Force and Marines,” said LeBlanc. “I happen to be a New Hampshire National Guardsman myself, and I’m very pleased elements of the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard have flown all the way to Tunisia for African Lion as well.”
Partnerships with African allies further enhance the exercise's impact, with Ghana, Kenya, Libya and Nigeria participating in Tunisia, showcasing the collective commitment to regional security and stability.
About African Lion
2024 marks the 20th anniversary of AFRICOM’s premier and largest annual, combined, joint exercise African Lion. This year’s exercise will take place April 19 through May 31 and is hosted across Morocco, Ghana, Senegal and Tunisia with more than 8,100 participants from over 27 nations and contingents from NATO. African Lion 24 focuses on enhancing readiness between the U.S. and partner nation forces. This joint all-domain, multi-component, and multinational exercise, employs a full array of mission capabilities with the goal to strengthen interoperability among participants and set the theater for strategic access.
African Lion content can be found on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS).
About SETAF-AF
SETAF-AF provides U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Europe and Africa a dedicated headquarters to synchronize Army activities in Africa and scalable crisis-response options in Africa and Europe.
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