Enlisted conference draws senior leaders from three continents

The conference, held July 15, 2021, shed light on how partner nations can utilize state partnerships and International Military and Education Training funds to enhance knowledge and develop skills needed to strengthen professional militaries.

By U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs , United States Africa Command Stuttgart, Germany Aug 01, 2021

View Gallery

Gallery contains 2 images

U.S. Africa Command hosted a virtual Africa Senior Enlisted Conference on July 15, 2021, bringing together the top enlisted leaders from 20 African nations, U.S. National Guard state partners, and U.S. Africa and European Commands to discuss the development and education of enlisted leaders.

“The whole reason of the Africa Enlisted Development Strategy and why it exists is to enable, to advise, to assist, to train our African partners.” Sgt. Maj. Thresher

“Your professional armed forces are the foundation of our shared vision of a more secure, stable and prosperous Africa,” said U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U.S. Africa Command, during opening remarks. “In the view of the U.S. military a strong, professional corps of non-commissioned officers – strong sergeants and petty officers – should be the backbone of any armed force.”

The conference, part of Townsend’s Africa Enlisted Development Strategy, shed light on how partner nations can utilize state partnerships and International Military and Education Training funds to enhance knowledge and develop skills needed to strengthen professional militaries.

“This is not an enlisted program, this is Gen. Townsend’s program on how he sees effective military-to-military engagement with our African partners through the enlisted force,” said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Richard Thresher, command senior enlisted leader, U.S. Africa Command. “The whole reason of the Africa Enlisted Development Strategy and why it exists is to enable, to advise, to assist, to train our African partners.”

More than 60 participants learned how to apply to U.S. military professional military education programs, and the criteria required to attend various NATO and allied professional development schools.

Successful candidates recently accepted to these programs include the first-ever non-commissioned officer from the Kenya Defence Forces attending the U.S. Army’s Sergeants Major Academy, and a Royal Moroccan Armed Forces NCO accepted into the Swiss Armed Forces NCO Intermediate Course.

“Through these training opportunities, our partners can get a look at how other countries train, and how they use their own NCO corps,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Scott Haymaker, senior enlisted leader for Strategy, Engagement and Programs Directorate and Africa Enlisted Development Strategy planner.

Another important contributor to NCO development in Africa is the State Partnership Program, fostered through the U.S. National Guard Bureau to build relationships that enhance global security, understanding and cooperation.

“If you have an assigned state U.S. partner, they are big proponent of our enlisted development strategy,” Thresher said.

State partnership has fostered several institutions of excellence – where NCOs can train and learn –including in Liberia, with the help of the Michigan National Guard, and Kenya, with the Massachusetts National Guard. According to Thresher, any country may request support to develop these partnerships, after which an advisor would begin the process of identifying infrastructure and understanding where development gaps exist.

“We help with curriculum refinement, instructor training and providing ideas to assist our African partners in developing their NCOs,” Thresher said. “The proof is in the structure – the most relevant militaries in the world have an empowered, educated and relevant NCO corps."

“I don’t do anything important without one or more sergeants alongside of me,” Townsend said. “Through consistent engagement with your Chiefs of Defense and senior leaders, I stress the importance of developing trusted NCOs that shape, inspire and lead their professional armed forces.”

AFRICOM’s Senior Enlisted Leader Conference wraps up in Malawi

Gen. Langley visits international partners enrolled at Marine Corps University

African Lion, NCO development discussed during visits in Senegal

U.S., Malagasy leaders discuss maritime security, humanitarian aid

State Partnership Program critical to security cooperation in 93 countries

Africa Enlisted Development Strategy

International Military Education and Training Program

AEDS

Africa Senior Enlisted Leader Conference

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

Enlisted conference draws senior leaders from three continents

The conference, held July 15, 2021, shed light on how partner nations can utilize state partnerships and International Military and Education Training funds to enhance knowledge and develop skills needed to strengthen professional militaries.

Enlisted conference draws senior leaders on three continents to develop forces

Enlisted conference draws senior leaders on three continents to develop forces