Stories to include: Medical Exercise in Mombasa, Kenya; Land Forces Symposium in Kenya; Ward travels to Congo
Africa Command Deputy Supports Diplomacy in Guinea-Bissau; U.S. Hopeful for Upcoming Elections
By Vince Crawley
U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau, Apr 28, 2009 — The United States is hopeful that scheduled elections following the recent killings of Guinea-Bissau's president and military chief can be an important step toward stability in the West African nation, which has been plagued by decades of violence and, in recent years, drug trafficking.
A U.S. delegation that included the U.S. ambassador to Guinea Bissau and the civilian deputy of U.S. Africa Command made a daylong trip to Guinea-Bissau on April 23, 2009. They met with the country's interim president and interim military chief, both of whose predecessors were assassinated in early March. Elections have been scheduled for June.
"We have watched with concern the recent tragic events here in Guinea-Bissau," Ambassador Mary C. Yates, U.S. Africa Command's civilian deputy, told reporters April 23 in a joint news conference with U.S. Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau Marcia Bernicat.
"We want to know if there is now an opportunity for genuine reforms in the security sector of Guinea-Bissau," said Yates, who visited at the invitation of Bernicat. Yates is U.S. AFRICOM's deputy to the commander for civil-military activities. She is a former U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Burundi.
"The United States," Bernicat told approximately a dozen Bissau Guinean reporters, "is eager to accelerate efforts to support the rule of law in Guinea-Bissau to end the decades of impunity that have corroded government institutions and left Bissau-Guineans impoverished and disillusioned."
U.S. Embassy officials said the meeting with reporters was the first senior-level U.S. news conference in the country in the past several years .The U.S. Embassy suspended operations in Bissau on June 14, 1998 in the midst of a civil war. Currently, U.S. diplomatic relations with Guinea-Bissau are coordinated by the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, and Bernicat is U.S. ambassador to both countries. The Embassy recently opened a branch office in Bissau and regularly sends diplomats on overnight visits from Dakar to Bissau.
Yates originally planned to visit Guinea-Bissau in early March at the invitation of Bernicat to discuss U.S. concerns about narcotics trafficking throughout West Africa, as well as the U.S. military role in supporting regional security initiatives. However, the visit was postponed because of the killings of the nation's most senior leaders. On March 1, 2009, Armed Forces General Tagme Na Wai was killed in a bomb blast at the military headquarters. The following morning, President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed by a group of soldiers at the presidential palace. National Assembly Speaker Raimundo Pereira became interim president March 3 under the nation's constitution.
In meetings with Guinea-Bissau's senior leadership, Bernicat and Yates stressed that the United States hopes the upcoming election can mark a turning point in the country's future.
In a West Africa trip that also included visits to Nigeria and Senegal, Yates met with regional leaders, including representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to discuss regional cooperation in helping the people of Guinea-Bissau achieve greater stability and strengthen their democratic processes. In her meetings, Yates stressed that the U.S. military is firmly under the control of elected U.S. civilian leaders and their representatives.
Guinea-Bissau in recent years has become a major transit point for cocaine, which is smuggled across the mid-Atlantic from Latin America to West Africa en route to Europe. The United States has found that government ministries and agencies must coordinate their efforts to address illegal trafficking. The problem does not have a purely military solution but requires coordination with military forces, police, customs, the judiciary, nongovernmental agencies and other sectors of society. In addition, effective counter-narcotics action requires international cooperation.
"I am well aware that narcotics trafficking is not just a problem for Guinea-Bissau," Yates told reporters in Bissau. "The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that $2 billion worth of cocaine transited West Africa in the past year, and I do not need to tell you that UNODC identified Guinea-Bissau as one of the main hubs in this illegal trade. Drug trafficking is no way to gain wealth. In the long-term it devastates government, communities and lives. It is a global problem that requires regional cooperation as well as cooperation between the military, law enforcement and other governmental ministries."
During their visit, Bernicat and Yates also met with Captain Jose Zamora Induta, chief of defense for the Guinea-Bissau Armed Forces, and Minister of the Interior Lucio Soares. They also met with international military and civilian representatives posted in Bissau.
In Nigeria April 20-21, Yates met with senior Nigerian government officials and spoke to West African military professionals about the U.S. role in support of security sector reform. During her Nigeria visit, she also joined 75 military and government professionals attending a Security Sector Reform conference co-hosted by regional governments and the U.S. Defense Department's Africa Center for Strategic Studies. ECOWAS military and civilian officials from across West Africa attended the conference, formally called the 2009 ECOWAS Strategic Level Seminar on Security Sector Reform in West Africa. Discussions touched on a wide range of issues, including counter-narcotics across the region and the recent events in Guinea-Bissau.
Guinea-Bissau officials said they agree with international assessments that the nation's 4,500-member armed forces are in need of reforms and restructuring. Between 60 and 70 percent of Bissau Guinean military personnel are military officers, a ratio far out of balance with most militaries, where enlisted personnel ordinarily far outnumber the officer leadership. In addition, a large percentage of those officers are in senior ranks. Guinea-Bissau civilian and military officials explain that restructuring the military includes finding a solution to properly care for senior officers, the majority of whom served in the nation's past conflicts. However, the country lacks the financial resources to offer them retirement pay in accordance with their veteran status.
"As a military organization," Yates told reporters, "U.S. Africa Command highly values military professionalism and promotes an environment in which military professionals are the servants of their people. This includes striking an appropriate balance in size and composition of military organizations."
Yates added, "We hope that this difficult period of transition will result in positive change for the people of Guinea-Bissau, and the U.S. military is sincerely interesting in working with nations dedicated to long-term stability and genuine reform."
Bernicat, as the U.S. ambassador to Guinea-Bissau, said the United States wants to "identify credible local partners who respect the rule of law and who are prepared to combat the drug traffickers."
The United States "must be confident of our Bissau-Guinean counterparts’ commitment to ending complicity in the drug trade," Bernicat said. "We need partners who respect basic human rights, who empower and inspire people, not terrorize them."
Guinea-Bissau's presidential election is scheduled for late June. On November 16, 2008, the country held parliamentary elections that were praised by the international community as well-organized and transparent.
U.S. Army Central, Kenyan Army Refine Skills During Medical Exercise
By Sergeant Beth Lake
U.S. Army Central
In a medical emergency, time can be an enemy. The longer it takes to transport a patient to the hospital, the higher the probability they may not survive. U.S. Army Central (USARCENT) and Kenyan Army soldiers' skills were put to the test during a medical evacuation exercise, April 17, 2009 in Mombasa, Kenya.
Participants were assigned an emergency and took action, said Sergeant Kelsi Dammann, USARCENT combat medic. They were given a realistic scenario and were timed on how long it took to get to a medical facility.
Though soldiers knew an emergency was coming, they did not know what it would be. This element of surprise assessed USARCENT and Kenyan soldiers' abilities to work together to diagnose and successfully transport a patient to the hospital.
With the clock ticking, traffic became an immediate challenge as the ambulance raced to the Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa. Kenyan Army soldiers reacted quickly by jumping out of their vehicles.
"I was concerned that if this were a true cardiac arrest that we wouldn't make it to the hospital, but they got out there and cleared the road and we were able to clear through traffic quickly and efficiently," said Captain Jonathan Ji, M.D., USARCENT field surgeon.
Ji explained that in a trauma, there is a thing known is the golden hour. Every second counts in saving a life.
At the hospital, Dr. Majid Twahir, medical director of Aga Khan Hospital, was the only staffer who knew that this was a training event.
"I was the only one who knew this was going to happen," Twahir said. "We had already arranged in advance what the sequence would be and so we alerted the staff. We alerted ICU and the laboratory and we let them know there was a patient coming in who might be having cardiac arrest."
Upon arrival, the ambulance was greeted and the patient rushed in for care.
"Our goal was deliver the patient to the hospital with the optimal care in the minimal time possible," said Major George Moturi, M.D., Kenya Army medical officer. "We were told it would take an hour and we arrived in 20-30 minutes."
The participants in the exercise overcame the challenges of time, trauma, and environment by working together.
Captain Muranga Risper, Kenya Army nursing officer touched on the importance of working with the U.S. Army.
"It is important because we are the host country; we are trying to work together to make sure they understand what we have in our ambulances and how we do it in Kenya and they (U.S. Army) can tell us how they do it so we can synchronize and work together," said Risper.
In addition to the value of training in a joint environment, the MEDEVAC refined soldiers' skills.
"The more we rehearse, the faster things will flow and the smoother things will flow and we'll identify the errors along the way," Ji said. "We need to do more and more of these things. This is what we do; this is what the Army does. We train to get better."
Land Forces Symposium Conducted in Kenya
By Rick Scavetta
The president and commander-in-chief of the Kenyan Armed Forces, honorable Mwai Kibaki, officially opened the 2009 Land Forces Symposium April 20, 2009 at the Mombasa Serena Beach Hotel.
The symposium, co-hosted by Lieutenant General Jackson Tuwel, commander of the Kenya Army, and Lieutenant General James Lovelace, commanding general of the U.S. Army Central, is an annual event that provides a forum for senior land forces commanders and army chiefs of staff from the United States, Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia to address topics of mutual interest.
Military officials from 23 countries, to include senior leaders from U.S. Army Africa, came together for this year's Land Forces Symposium, conducted by U.S. Army Central since 2006. This was the first to be held in Africa.
During the opening ceremony, Kibaki stated that the symposium was being held at a time when the region has recorded unprecedented number of cases of piracy covering a large part of the East African Coast. This is a development which he said has threatened sea transport -- a basic lifeline for several African states in the region.
He added that trade and critical imports are seriously threatened by the rise of piracy in the area, an issue which the U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Michael Ranneberger, reiterated by pointing out that piracy has its source on land.
"It is imperative that the symposium comes up with ideas on how best we can work together in addressing the problem of piracy," said Kibaki, adding that he looked forward to the results of the discussions.
Professor Macharla Munene, a professor of history and international relations at the United States International University, delivered the keynote address on the topic of global security concerns and outlook.
During the three-day symposium, military leaders will conduct panel discussions involving all 23 countries and will break into regional groups to discuss areas of mutual interest.
Source: U.S. Army Africa
Ward in Congo: U.S. Military will Continue Supporting Security Assistance Activities
By Kenneth Fidler
U.S. AFRICOM Public Affairs
The United States military will continue working with the Congolese armed forces in training, advising and capacity building to support security assistance cooperation activities, but has no plans to put combat troops here, said the commander of U.S. Africa Command during a visit April 24, 2009.
"Our activities here will be limited ... involving small numbers of U.S. military from different services to help the host nation build capacity to more effectively conduct its military operations and provide for its own security," Ward said during a press conference in Kinshasa.
Ward's trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was the final leg of a three-country, five-day trip to Africa. He led a small U.S. Africa Command delegation to Rwanda and Kenya earlier in the week.
This marked the first time in memory that the commander of a geographic combatant command has visited the DRC, according to U.S. Africa Command officials.
Ward discussed cooperation activities with Minister of Defense Charles Mwando Nsimba and Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Didier Etumba Longila. He also toured classrooms and visited students in the military school "Centre Superieur Militaire."
Under a Department of State-run program, the U.S. Embassy-Kinshasa has a seven-man Mobile Training Team (MTT) teaching Congolese military officers at the school. The military ranks of the students range from captain to colonel, and the instruction includes military leadership, preparation of plans and orders, the military decision-making process, and staff functions.
Plans are underway to hold a major medical exercise, called MEDFLAG, with the DRC military in summer 2010, said Colonel (Doctor) Schuyler Geller, U.S. AFRICOM's command surgeon who accompanied Ward on the trip.
MEDFLAG is a premier annual training event conducted bi-laterally with African nations, focused on medical training and building the skills of DRC military medical personnel.
The exercise is one example of how U. S. Africa Command works with African militaries "to help them help build their capacity, strengthen our partnership, and promote long-term security and stability," Geller said.
Ward emphasized that all U.S. military activities in the DRC, and all African nations, are coordinated with the host nation government and U.S. Embassy officials.
"We only go where we are invited and where it will add value and complement other programs taking place," Ward said.
DRC's history has been plagued with instability, military coups and rebel violence from within its borders and from neighboring countries. The United Nations Organization Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUC, began operations in 2001 to implement the provisions of a 1999 ceasefire accord signed by six African governments to end a six-year civil and regional war.
Unrest has continued, even since democratic, multi-party elections in 2006, the first in more than 40 years.
MONUC began with a few thousand peacekeepers and has grown into the UN's largest peacekeeping operation worldwide. Nearly 50 nations from four continents supply military and police personnel to MONUC, whose strength is about 17,000 now. Its troops are deployed into eastern Congo to help protect vulnerable civilian populations affected by the civil strife.
Ward met with the UN Secretary General's special representative to the DRC, Alan Doss, and Senegalese Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye, the top MONUC military commander. They gave Ward insight on MONUC's mission and challenges.
The United States does not have military troops in MONUC, but does provide funding support.
"To restore the peace and stability that the Congolese people deserve talks to the reason for my being here," Ward said at the press conference. "It is how we can conduct our military activities to support the training and to support the increased professionalization of the Congolese armed forces as best we can as they work to bring security and stability here in the Congo."
Earlier in the week, Ward, leading a small U.S. Africa Command delegation, visited Rwanda to discuss security assistance activities with Rwandan Defense Force officials. He met with RDF commanders who recently served in Darfur peacekeeping operations and toured the RDF's infantry school.
Before visiting Congo, he attended the final sessions of the Land Forces Symposium in Mombasa, Kenya. The symposium, organized by the Kenyan Army and the U.S. Army Central Command, is an annual forum that brings together international military leaders to discuss common challenges, exchange views and foster security cooperation throughout the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
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