More than 170 participants from across the African, European and North American continents gathered in Lilongwe, Malawi the first week of June for the final planning event leading to Exercise Africa Endeavor currently scheduled to take place in Zambia in August.

Exercise Africa Endeavor is U.S. Africa Command's largest communications exercise, providing a venue for military communication professionals from across the African continent to work together toward common standards and procedures related to command, control, communications and information sharing.

"Africa Endeavor gives participating nations the opportunity to work side-by-side and build relationships with regional neighbors, other African countries, the United States and other partners," said Navy Commander Bryan McRoberts, exercise director.

"These relationships are key to building better capacity because the first step requires overcoming the barriers created by language, borders and culture," he said.

The planning event kicked off with an opening ceremony during which participants heard from U.S. Ambassador to Malawi, the Honorable Jeanine Jackson, and the Malawi Defense Force Commander, General Henry Odillo.

"The strategy of working together through multinational and combined training is a commendable one since we find common ground to tackle common threats," said Odillo. "The notion of working in isolation is no longer applicable, both politically and militarily, because of the dynamic and symmetric nature of our threats."

Throughout the planning effort participants organized into small groups focused on specific goals and objectives in the areas of scenario development, training objectives, development of training course material, cyber and communication security policies and standardized procedures to be used during the exercise.

In addition, some time was allotted for regional partners to meet and discuss the equipment requirements for the exercise, as each nation contributes to the network architecture.

"There is a huge logistical puzzle that we have to piece together when it comes to the equipment that is needed, and whether certain systems can talk to each other," McRoberts explained. "Figuring that out now, during an exercise, is critical so that regional forces know how they can communicate during an actual response to crisis.”

The real-world benefits achieved through this exercise range from the testing of today's high-tech equipment, to improving information sharing among militaries and fostering professional relationships, noted Ambassador Jackson, who served as a U.S. Army Signal Corps officer earlier in her career.

"The benefits are obvious around the African continent as Multinational African coalitions are combating crises and instability from Mali to Sudan to the Democratic Republic of Congo," she said.
Many nations, such as Malawi, have participated in Exercise Africa Endeavor since it began in 2006.

Participants in this final planning event hailed from 35 African nations and regional organizations, as well as the African Union and Western partners Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Sweden and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.