Global Land Power -- Sustaining Readiness & Building Capability, Capacity, Access and Trust through Engagement in Africa
Dangerous and highly complex challenges exist in the contemporary operating environment. Every region of the world has security and stability challenges where seams are created and areas exist in which threats in numerous forms seek to exploit weakness for their own advantage. This is especially true on the continent of Africa where in recent years several countries and newly formed organizations have aggressively pursued solutions to environmental, social, economic and security challenges. On a continent three times the size of the United States, with one billion people, 54 countries, 400 ethnic groups and 2000 languages, U.S. Army Africa / Southern European Task Force works to strengthens African Land Forces and regional organizations.
The United States engages with African nations in many ways. USARAF is engaged in numerous security cooperation events, exercises, and operations working to partner, enable, build, shape and deter. USARAF operates in conjunction with Interagency, Allied / European, non-governmental organizations and our African partners to strengthen African land forces and regional organizations to assist in achieving a secure and stable environment in Africa. In addition, USARAF supports operations to deter and defeat violent extremist organizations and protect and defend United States national security interests. USARAF works closely with African militaries and security forces and utilizes Army and interagency assets to accomplish assigned tasks and supports U.S. Africa Command's accomplishment of Defense Strategic and AFRICOM regional objectives. Over the last year, as the Army Service Component Command to AFRICOM, USARAF has made significant progress working with all partner's identified above through the employment of the U.S. Army Regionally Aligned Force.
Regionally Aligned Force -- Building & Enabling the Land Power Network
The world in which we live in today does not allow our Army the benefit of taking a knee after coming out of a decade of war fighting two major conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Simultaneously, the Army faces challenges as the force is rebalanced in light of current fiscal realities and national priorities. As we lead our way through this transition there exists great opportunity in Africa. The many missions in Africa provide an opportunity for the U.S. to assist in shaping the region and in shaping and enabling the concept of the regionally aligned force that contributes to enhancing the readiness of our Army. History has shown time and again that it takes "boots on the ground" to achieve outcomes and exert influence and change that is enduring. Building trust, building relationships, and achieving a level of understanding involves the human element. USARAF is in the business of building trust and relationships on the continent of Africa and accomplishes its mission through engagement using the Regionally Aligned Force. The 2d Brigade Combat Team and 4th Brigade Combat Team, both from the 1st Infantry Division, have deployed to the continent of Africa since March 2013 as AFRICOM's regionally aligned brigade to partner, enable and accomplish AFRICOM, USARAF and partner nation objectives. All combined, the two Regionally Aligned Brigades to date have deployed 3,204 Soldiers supporting 199 engagements ranging from large Accord Series Joint Exercises to one and two man military to military engagements. All total since integrating the RAF into USARAF operation, 13,553 African Soldiers from 38 African nations have received training. In addition to training, elements of the RAB conducted contingency operations in South Sudan to secure the Embassy in Juba within hours of notification. From tactical to operational to institutional / strategic, RAB and RAF units and Soldiers are extending the Land Power Network across the continent of Africa.
Globally Responsive and Regionally Engaged - Partner, Enable, Build and Shape
The RAF expands well beyond the building block of the RAB. Soldiers and capabilities from across the Army make up the RAF and support efforts to partner, shape and build capability and capacity within Africa. The USARAF mission set extends beyond the building block of training African troop contributing countries for peacekeeping forces. Our aligned brigade Soldiers and the enablers from intelligence, signal, civil affairs, engineers, and every MOS and specialty resident in the force supports USARAF's efforts. Through lessons learned and experience gained over the past two years, USARAF and the AFRICOM's regionally aligned forces have learned to leverage the proper mission to the authorities and funding needed to support theatre security operations, training, building partner capacity, countering VEOs, and execution and support to named operations on the continent of Africa.
Building Adaptive Leaders
The Army is currently comprised of leaders at all levels that are accustomed to operating in dynamic and complex situations. Our competitive advantage is our leaders who are accustomed to operating with mission command type orders in complex and challenging situation. Maintaining this edge gained through more than ten years of combat deployments is difficult to do at home station. Engagement in Africa provides an environment in which leaders often placed into austere, complex and challenging situations. From 2-3 Soldier teams, to working with Department of State or other interagency partners, working bi-lateral or in larger multi-lateral Accord Series exercises at the platoon, company and battalion level, engagement in Africa gives back to our leaders in terms of professional development. Engagement in Africa not only provides an environment for developing our leaders, it also provides an opportunity for us to shape and influence the soldiers and leaders of African land forces.
Leaders who are adaptive and innovative: Singo, Uganda. A first lieutenant and 20 members of her platoon deployed to train the Ugandan Army for United Nations operations in Somalia. Operating more than an hour away from the nearest other U.S. Army officer, she adapted her Program of Instruction to match Ugandan needs and interacted daily with UN, Department of State and host nation leaders.
Leaders who are interoperable: Port Elizabeth, South Africa. A brigade commander deployed 600 members of his brigade to participate in and provide mission command for a combined, joint exercise with the South African National Defense Force. The scenario included night airborne and amphibious assault operations with more than 3,500 Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Special Forces from the U.S. and South Africa.
Leaders who understand the security environment: Juba, South Sudan. A company and battalion commander deployed with 45 Soldiers to protect the US embassy within hours of notification. Remaining for 121 days, these leaders coordinated daily with Department of State, USAFRICOM and CJTF Horn of Africa staff, building their skills to lead in a rapidly changing security environment Africa is a premier leadership laboratory for the Army now and the Army of 2025.
Building on Unit Readiness
The positive aspect of experience gained by our leaders also translates to overall unit readiness. Unit proficiency and readiness gained through various levels of unit training and through decisive action / combat training center rotations is sustained and enhanced by deployment and engagement during the ready cycle. Soldiers work in their MOS in austere environments, small units conduct training with partner nation units, battalions and brigades participate in virtual and live training with multi-national organizations. This type of persistent engagement hones Soldier, leader and staff skills and increases readiness. 2nd and 4th BCTs from the 1st Infantry Division who have filled the position as AFRICOM's regionally aligned force (Brigade), have balanced the ability to conduct home station training while concurrently conducting training on the continent. USARAF's assessment in conjunction is RAF employment in no way decreases readiness. Leaders embrace the challenges and Soldier moral is high as every RAF Soldier wants to be the next to deploy to Africa.
Long Term Institution Building and Professionalism
Engagement in Africa develops our Army's leaders and leader development is a primary focus in all that USARAF does. As our leaders are developed, so are the leaders of our African partners as we focus on the professional development of African Land Forces. The concept of professional soldiers is the underpinning of all we do. It starts with leading by example. Teaching and reinforcing the concept of professionalism, along with the development of the noncommissioned officer corps concept, is one of the most important ideas to Africa militaries. Many have embraced the concept and have already developed a strong noncommissioned officer corps. The implementation of the Malawian Sergeants Majors Academy is a great example of the institutional type efforts that have a lasting and strategic effect on a nation's military. Additionally, increasing exposure to leader opportunities to attend professional military education and development courses reinforces the importance of a professional trained army. Other institutional efforts such as the Logistics school being implemented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an example of the institutional type of efforts that will be expanded in partner countries in order to make a long and lasting impact and insure the return on the resources and effort being expended in Africa. As USARAF continues to mature and further develop and refines it's operational and strategic focus that targets long term institutional building efforts on the African continent, we are able to clearly articulate our requirements and access our Institutional capabilities and the host of institutional enablers resident in the U.S. Army that are required to enable our strategy and to insure the best return on the use of our scarce resources. Finding the institutional need in the right partner country and applying the best operational/training/ institutional capability-capacity to enable it is the key to long term success in Africa.
USARAF -- AFRICOM's Army Service Component Command Impact
In December 2012, Islamist militants surged south towards Bamako in Mali. Responding immediately, 1,400 troops from six African countries deployed alongside the French and fought the hardest battles and suffered the most casualties. Together, they repelled the rebels. Now 12,000 African peacekeepers reinforce the French in stabilizing the country, disrupting and defeating violent extremist organizations and internally armed parties. Supporting this effort, United States Army Africa trained four battalions from three different countries over the past two years.
A year later, as violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) escalated, the AU self-deployed 1,200 soldiers to reinforce peacekeepers already present. Augmenting this surge, USARAF orchestrated the deployment of approximately 1,900 African peacekeepers and their equipment to Bangui, Central African Republic aboard C-17s, and within three weeks 3,000 African soldiers were on the ground alongside the French, preventing violence in CAR from escalating into a mass atrocity. USARAF has been assisting DoS by equipping and training these units to make them more effective. Today, the fragile peace in CAR is held by French and AU troops with only four U.S. soldiers in Bangui.
Sometimes the situation calls for direct U.S. intervention. This was the case in December 2013 when violence in South Sudan escalated and the U.S. embassy was threatened. Within hours of notification, an infantry platoon from Fort Riley, Kansas, that was trained and pre-positioned in Djibouti, reinforced the U.S. embassy Juba, South Sudan. Not only were U.S. citizens protected, but African partners learned the United States is committed to maintaining security and stability on the continent.
These examples highlight some of the more notable contributions of USARAF in working with African and international partners to establish and maintain stability in Africa. Probably the most surprising aspect of our theater security cooperation program is the fact that USARAF has no assigned forces and a very small Army budget, clear proof-of-concept that RAF works.
Today, rather than large troop deployments to resolve crises, the Army now focuses on sustained partnerships and tailored solutions that meet the specific requirements of the situation. By training African Union soldiers and through the numerous events and activities USARAF conducts, we enable African militaries to support peacekeeping missions, respond to crisis and quell instability. USARAF uses sustained engagement and enduring partnerships to enable both security cooperation and operations on the continent, linking activities over time to achieve sustained effects and balancing training for specific missions with developing self-sustaining institutions. USARAF activities are enhanced by operating as part of a joint, interagency, multinational, and Total Army team.
USARAF is meeting its mission requirements efficiently and expeditiously. That mission is to protect Americans and American interests in Africa. While Africa is a long way from the shores of the United States, leaders of violent extremist organizations and traffickers of humans, drugs and weapons see the U.S. as a target of opportunity. A safe, stable and secure Africa is an enduring American interest and USARAF fulfills its mission by enabling African militaries and their leaders on all levels. What we do in term of capitalizing on trained and ready units as part of the RAF reinforces individual Soldier, leader and unit proficiency and overall readiness and is an integral part in supporting the Army vision of Army and Soldier 2025.
"If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be."
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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