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Ghana, Cabo Verde flags, AFRICOM logo

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STUTTGART, Germany – At the invitation of the governments of Ghana and Cabo Verde, U.S. Africa Command and its Special Operations component, Special Operations Command Africa, kicked off the 10-day Epic Guardian 2016 (EG16) exercise on April 26.

Epic Guardian is an annual, joint exercise designed to promote cooperation, understanding and interoperability between African partner nations and the United States. Approximately 900 U.S. personnel are expected to participate in this year’s iteration along with personnel from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces. The government of Cabo Verde will also participate in key phases.

EG16 will cover a broad range of topics, including theater strategic planning, intermediate support, logistics, intelligence gathering and analysis, and communications among others. Training will consist of staff crisis action planning, deployment of forces, completion of field exercises, and redeployment of forces, all with the goal of providing for greater security and stability for the region.

QUICK FACTS:

• Units from AFRICOM and the SOCAFRICA component, as well as interagency partners, are participating in Exercise Epic Guardian 2016 in conjunction with partners in Ghana and Cabo Verde.

• Epic Guardian is an annual exercise conducted by AFRICOM designed to promote cooperation, understanding and interoperability between African partner nations and the United States.

• EG16 will occur in and around Accra, Ghana, and Cabo Verde, to include the Gulf of Guinea. Previous iterations of Epic Guardian were held in Malawi, Cameroon, Djibouti, and the Seychelles.

• Units from AFRICOM, SOCOM, SOCAFRICA, AFRICOM components and U.S. Interagency partners are participating in Epic Guardian in conjunction with our African partners in Ghana and Cabo Verde.

• This joint readiness exercise will include training in areas such as communications, logistics, intelligence gathering and analysis, crisis action planning and inter-operability training.

• Epic Guardian provides an opportunity to strengthen the relationship and partnership between partner nations and the U.S. Military cooperation is a vital part of the U.S. – Ghana and U.S. – Cabo Verde partnerships.