The precise role the newly created U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) will play is to build on long-standing partnerships to deliver humanitarian assistance and foster self-sufficiency by helping African nations build strong, effective democracies, according to U.S. officials.

“We are not at war in Africa, nor do we expect to be,” Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer told senators in an August 1 hearing. “Our embassies and AFRICOM will work in concert to keep it that way.”

The United States monitors potential security threats by dividing its forces into regional combat commands. Despite Africa's many security challenges over the years, attention to the continent was divided among three separate military commands focused on Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

“Back in the Cold War, we were spending in the European Command only about 5 percent of our time in Africa. And now it's increasing,” Jonathan Gration, a retired U.S. Air Force major general, told lawmakers. “AFRICOM is a concept that is good, and it needs to happen.”

But since the February announcement of its formation, AFRICOM has been the subject of great concern among many Africa watchers, said Mark Malan, a former South African military officer working on behalf of the Washington-based advocacy group Refugees International.

“When the U.S. promotes a combatant military command in terms of development and humanitarianism, Africans will inevitably suspect that the true story is being kept from them,” Malan said.

“There is strong fear and apprehension within Africa, within the United States, in Europe and elsewhere that AFRICOM signals the militarization of U.S. engagement in Africa at the expense of developmental and diplomatic interests,” added Stephen Morrison, an Africa expert from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Frazer said these fears are unfounded.

Responsibility for U.S. diplomacy will remain as always with the State Department, she said. Unlike any other U.S. military command, AFRICOM will feature a senior State Department diplomat serving as a deputy and adviser to AFRICOM’s commander, with additional diplomats and aid workers joining military officers at the helm, she added.

“It is in many ways the marriage of State's expertise and authorities with the military's resources and security experience, and we are excited about it,” said Frazer.

Such a collaborative approach is not new, said Stephen Hess, an assistant administrator with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), who highlighted the close collaboration between his agency and the U.S. military to save lives following disasters and to aid communities in need with civic action programs that deliver food, health care, clean water, new schools and other necessities.

“AFRICOM will support, not shape, U.S. foreign policy on the continent,” said Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary for African affairs at the U.S. Defense Department, who added that AFRICOM in many respects is an effort by the United States to “catch up” with rapidly evolving governance and defense institutions in the region, such as the African Union.

“Africa has long been seen as a problem to be solved, a continent of failed states, faltering economies, regional conflicts, and corrupt leadership. This image, though, is a far cry from the Africa of today. With the support of international partners, Africans are slowly but surely instituting democracy and good governance across the continent,” she said.

AFRICOM is another step in this process, but will not bring a large U.S. troop presence to the continent, Whelan said. Currently based in Germany while reviewing hosting offers from several African countries, AFRICOM will not include a complex of large military bases, but rather a small support staff, which will be able to summon forces and equipment as needed.

For decades, the U.S. military has helped train and equip Africa’s militaries, allowing them to take charge of securing their own countries, the wider region through bodies such as the African Union, and around the world, through participation in U.N. peacekeeping missions. Although the structure is new, AFRICOM’s mission will continue to stress the military’s role as a guardian of democratic society that operates under civilian control and respects human rights.

“The purpose of AFRICOM is to encourage and support this African leadership and initiative, not to compete with it or to discourage it,” Whelan said. “U.S. security is enhanced when African nations themselves endeavor successfully to address and resolve emerging security issues before they become so serious that they require considerable international resources and intervention to resolve.”

The full text of Frazer's testimony is available on the State Department Web site.