U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

Members of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mark the 383rd birthday of the National Guard with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony at Kelley Barracks Dec. 13.

“Our Guard has evolved alongside our country, and our security environment has changed,” said Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Hadfield, AFRICOM deputy director for intelligence. “This generation’s Minutemen continue to defend our nation; the National Guard stands as a community cornerstone, just as it did in 1636.”

By Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez , U.S. Africa Command Stuttgart, Germany Dec 13, 2019

View Gallery

Gallery contains 3 images

Photo 1 of 3

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

National Guard Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Hadfield, AFRICOM deputy director for intelligence and Col. Patricia Fant, chief of the National Guard Integration, cut the cake to celebrate the National Guard's 383rd at Kelley Barracks Dec. 13. Within AFRICOM, the National Guard plays several roles in promoting a stable security environment in Africa. One way this is accomplished is through the State Partnership Program, with 15 African nations partnered with 13 state National Guards. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez/Released)

Download image

Photo by: Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez

Photo 2 of 3

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

Members of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mark the 383rd birthday of the National Guard with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony at Kelley Barracks Dec. 13. Within AFRICOM, the National Guard plays several roles in promoting a stable security environment in Africa. One way this is accomplished is through the State Partnership Program, with 15 African nations partnered with 13 state National Guards. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez/Released)

Download image

Photo by: Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez

Photo 3 of 3

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

Members of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mark the 383rd birthday of the National Guard with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony at Kelley Barracks Dec. 13. On this date in 1636, the first militia regiments in North America organized in Massachusetts. Based upon an order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s General Court, the colony’s militia was organized into three permanent regiments to defend the colony better. The National Guard shares the distinction of being the oldest unit in the U.S. military. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Flor Gonzalez/Released)

Download image

Photo by: Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez

STUTTGART, Germany — Members of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mark the 383rd birthday of the National Guard with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony at Kelley Barracks Dec. 13.

On this date in 1636, the first militia regiments in North America organized in Massachusetts. Based upon an order of the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s General Court, the colony’s militia was organized into three permanent regiments to defend the colony better. The National Guard shares the distinction of being the oldest unit in the U.S. military.

Within AFRICOM, the National Guard plays several roles in promoting a stable security environment in Africa. One way this is accomplished is through the State Partnership Program – with 15 African nations partnered with 13 state National Guards – which is administered by the National Guard Bureau and supports theater commanders’ security cooperation objectives.

The program has been successfully building mutually beneficial relationships around the globe for more than 25 years. In the fiscal year 2019, the National Guard conducted more than 200 State Partnership Program events in support of U.S. Africa Command’s security cooperation objectives, involving more than 3,400 partner-nation personnel.

National Guard partnerships play a key role in enhancing African-partner capabilities by supporting emergency and disaster response, peacekeeping operations and readiness, medical training, humanitarian mine action programs, counter-threat and border security, engineering and military law.

Additionally, of the nearly 2,000 service members assigned to Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, more than 40 percent are National Guard members. Many of these service members provide emergency response and security functions for Camp Lemonnier and a nearby U.S.-run military airfield.

Federal Government of Somalia engages ISIS-Somalia with support from U.S. Forces

Africa Endeavor

U.S. Forces conduct strike against ISIS-Somalia

U.S. Africa Command 2025 Posture Statement to Senate Armed Services Committee

U.S. Forces conduct strike against ISIS-Somalia

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

NAIROBI, Kenya – Among the flurry of tactical live fires and squad movement drills, air ground integration and even the humanitarian initiatives at exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), lies the one thing those who serve in any armed force must follow: The Law. The Law of Armed Conflict, or LOAC, is a key aspect of training for any military. JA25’s academics course aimed at learning from the international legal lessons of previous wars in an effort to reduce the amount of human suffering in future conflicts. “The soldier’s rules are a broad set of rules that we have pulled from the large breadth of international law,” said U.S. Army Maj. Tim Olliges, an operational law attorney assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the lead U.S. Army command and planner of JA25. “The LOAC is extensive and can be complex, so we pull out the ten most critical concepts that every soldier, right down to the private, should know before they go into combat.”

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

NAIROBI, Kenya – Imagine two scenarios. Scenario 1: Dawn breaks over the capital of Kenya. A U.S. diplomat leaves his residence for the embassy. After a 20-minute ride, his car arrives at the gate and he enters. He sits in his office to begin the day when, all of a sudden, he hears an explosion through the open window. It seems far off; it is not a large explosion. He thinks maybe it was just a car accident, but minutes later he smells something bitter in the air. His eyes water, sirens blare and a U.S. Marine Corps security detail enters his office wearing gas masks. They put a mask on him and tell him they must evacuate immediately because a deadly chemical is blowing over the compound. Scenario 2: U.S. intelligence receives credible information that radiological material is being loaded onto a ship in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. Time is short and no one knows which ship, only that it will embark soon, possibly bound for the hands of violent extremists or other state actors looking to imperil the U.S. homeland. There is no time to send U.S. security forces to intercept the package. Instead, the Kenyan Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) mobilizes and arrives at the port. Using tactics and tools gained from years of training with the United States, they find the ship and the weapon, placed there by a violent extremist organization, and prevent its departure, defeating the threat to America and its citizens. Similar scenarios have happened before in other areas of the world.

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Belgian Ministry of Defence, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Indo Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Chaplain Directorates, hosted the world’s largest annual meeting of senior military religious leaders at the 36th Annual NATO & Partner International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference (IMCCC) in Brussels, Belgium, January 27-31, 2025.

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

United States Africa Command

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

Members of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) mark the 383rd birthday of the National Guard with a traditional cake-cutting ceremony at Kelley Barracks Dec. 13.

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard

U.S. Africa Command marks the 383rd birthday of the National Guard