Cape Verde Minister of National Defense Cristina Fontes honored U.S. Africa Command's Petty Officer 2nd Class Norman Kukona in a ceremony July 6, 2010, in Praia, Cape Verde.

Kukona, an information systems technician in the Navy Reserve, was presented the 2nd Classe da Medalha de Servicos Relevantes (Second Class Medal for Relevant Services) for his efforts in establishing a Counter-Narcotics and Maritime Security Interagency Fusion Center (CMIC) that was completed this May in Cape Verde.

The medal recognized "professional and personal qualities combined with a remarkable sense of organization and practical intelligence that was evident in various phases of the project," said the defense minister (in Portuguese) in an award declaration. She also pointed out the importance of publicly recognizing Kukona's efforts as he significantly contributed to the materialization of the center, further strengthening the already excellent relationship between Cape Verde and the United States.

The center, a project coordinated by the U.S. Embassy and Unites States and Cape Verdean governments, was created to serve as a central location for various government agencies and offices to integrate intelligence, share information and coordinate activities that will improve maritime security.

Although narcotic usage is not considered an extensive problem in the country, Cape Verde has become a transit point for narcotics crossing the Atlantic from Latin America into West Africa and then up into Europe.

"Armed forces, police and intelligence communities can fuse signal [communication], human, open source and agency proprietary intelligence into products that will help the government of Cape Verde (GOCV) more effectively use their limited maritime assets to combat illegal trafficking and protect resources vital to their national security," said Kukona.

Responsible for the conception and execution of the project, Kukona worked for nearly two years with the Cape Verde government, military, civilian leadership and engineers to develop design plans for the fusion center that involved the complete refurbishment of a facility, installation of a new electrical distribution system and the installation of information technology and radio equipment.

"During that time, I worked in very close partnership with Cape Verdean forces from their military facilities in Praia, Sao Vicente and Espargos to execute the concept of operations."

In total, Kukona worked to deploy sensors on seven islands, establish a wide area network that interconnects four major military facilities on three islands and installed the information technology equipment in the fusion center.

The center's initial capabilities include the ability to monitor commercial vessels in Cape Verdean waters and the use of analytical tools. Within the next year, the intent is to integrate a vessel monitoring system from the fisheries department; a database from the judicial police; tools to help analysts discover anomalies in ship movements; and a vessel tracking system being developed with international partners and an existing aerial radar system into the CMIC.

U.S. Africa Command provided approximately $1.5 million to build the CMIC in an effort to help Cape Verde build their own security capacity.

"Cape Verdeans now have platform to implement an improved whole-of-government approach to identifying and responding to threats in their maritime environment."