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Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Richard Thresher, command senior enlisted leader, U.S. Africa Command, poses with African partners during the Africa Senior Enlisted Leader Conference in Rome, Italy, from Aug. 22-23. The conference serves as a venue for all participating nations to collaborate with and learn from each other while discussing key challenges faced across the continent and avenues to discuss how we can best work together to address those challenges.

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Photo by: Staff Sgt. Flor Gonzalez 

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Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference

African partners pose during the Africa Senior Enlisted Leader Conference in Rome, Italy, from Aug. 22-23. The conference serves as a venue for all participating nations to collaborate with and learn from each other while discussing key challenges faced across the continent and avenues to discuss how we can best work together to address those challenges.

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Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference

From left to right, California's National Guard State Sergeant Major Lynn Williams and Nigeria's Warrant Officer Abdullahi Baba make notes during the Africa Senior Enlisted Leader Conference in Rome, Italy, from Aug. 22-23.. California and Nigeria have been state partners in the State Partnership Program since 2006.

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Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference

The 2022 Africa Senior Enlisted Leaders Conference, held in Rome, Italy, from Aug. 22-23, serves as a venue for all participating nations to collaborate with and learn from each other while discussing key challenges faced across the continent and avenues to discuss how we can best work together to address those challenges.

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Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference

Senior Enlisted leaders from various African partners, U.S. National Guards, U.S. Africa Command, and its components gathered to discuss the way ahead to build partner capacity, enhance regional cooperation, and increase interoperability during the Africa Senior Enlisted Leader Conference in Rome, Italy, from Aug. 22-23. The conference serves as a venue for all participating nations to collaborate with and learn from each other while discussing key challenges faced across the continent and avenues to discuss how we can best work together to address those challenges.

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Leadership by example: AFRICOM hosts senior enlisted conference

Tanzania's Sergeant Major Aabdallah Kitema (left) and Liberia's Forces Sergeant Major Cooper Manqueh pose during the Africa Senior Enlisted Conference held in Rome, Italy, from Aug. 22-23. The conference serves as a venue for all participating nations to collaborate with and learn from each other while discussing key challenges faced across the continent and avenues to discuss how we can best work together to address those challenges.

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Senior Enlisted Leaders from over 20 African partner nations, the U.S., and NATO participated in the annual Senior Enlisted Leader Conference hosted by U.S. Africa Command, Aug. 22-23, 2022. The conference marks the return of face-to-face engagements after COVID-19

“Events like this are key to increasing the shared understanding between AFRICOM and our partners on the continent,” said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Richard Thresher, command senior enlisted leader, U.S. Africa Command, “and serve to strengthen the relationships we have already built which are extremely important to our shared successes and increasing security and prosperity in Africa.”

The event enables Senior enlisted leaders of defense from across Africa to discuss a wide range of security issues.

The key objective of this event was to provide a forum for component and National Guard senior enlisted leaders to renew and strengthen existing relationships with African senior enlisted leaders.

“I am glad to be part of this conference because there are a lot of meaningful exchanges from NCOs who are willing to bring something to the army and who are giving an added value to the army and those they work with,” said Sgt. 1st Class Larissa Sama, an instructor in the Benin Army.

Key points discussed during the conference included defense security cooperation, the importance of leadership, non-commissioned officer professional military education programming best practices, and enlisted-to-officer transition programs.

“Enlisted members form the backbone of every professional military force. It is essential that all non-commissioned officers are trained and educated at each rank,” said Thresher, “matching education with enlisted experience is key to building a trustworthy, capable force where decisions and actions can be delegated down to the lowest level.”

During the two-day event, representatives from each attending African country, senior enlisted leaders from the National Guard, and AFRICOM components all had the opportunity to share their respective insights on NCO development and answer questions from their counterparts.

The National Guard leaders attended because of their relationship with the African partners through the State Partnership Program. Through SPP, the partners conduct military-to-military engagements in support of defense security goals but also leverage whole-of-society relationships and capabilities to facilitate broader interagency and corollary engagements spanning military, government, economic and social spheres.

This ASEL conference also focused on the topics of officer and senior enlisted command relationship and military to civilian transition programs.

“To me, the last subject that on how to transition from the military to the civilian, was very important, is not that we do not know about it, but we do not have a program to cover that,” said Cooper Manqueh, Liberia Forces Sergeant Major. “We have been seeking ways on how to establish that program.”

U.S. Africa Command routinely conducts military-to-military engagements and security cooperation activities alongside African partners to build partner capacity, enhance regional cooperation, and increase interoperability.