U.S. Africa Command’s annual premier, largest joint and combined exercise, African Lion, demonstrates the U.S. military’s commitment to maintaining strong relationships with allies and partners, reflecting the core principles of its approach in Africa: partner-led and U.S.-enabled. Marking its 20th anniversary, the event ran from April 19 to May 31, 2024, and was led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa. The training exercise attracted more than 8,100 participants from over 27 nations and North Atlantic Treaty Organization contingents.
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force received the support of performance experts from the Vicenza, Italy, R2 Performance Center to improve the readiness of Soldiers and partner nations. In classroom and field environments, trainers Brittani McVay, Jamie Kenyon and Eric Urrutia instructed over 300 Soldiers and staff from Joint Services and NATO allies. Through small group and mastery sessions, the trainers taught participants a variety of performance-enhancement skills.
“It was very eye-opening for us to experience what different military populations go through during a field rotation,” McVay said. “It gave us a new appreciation for what they do and how they operate.”
The trainers joined U.S. Marine Corps members to observe a live training exercise and discuss how mental-skills exercises could improve their overall performance and well-being. “We had brief micro-coaching conversations to discuss how our services apply to their work,” Urrutia said.
Kenyon worked with a team of Army interpreters to help translate performance-enhancement modules into French and Arabic and networked with other military forces. “The partner nations and other military services were very excited and enthusiastic to learn about what we teach,” Kenyon observed. “On my last day of working with the interpreters, there was such a bond and appreciation for the work we did together.”
The task force will continue to integrate Ready and Resilient training into its local workshops and physical training events focused on team building and communication.
Take your team’s performance to the next level. To schedule a training, reach out to your nearest R2 Performance Center.
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