HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE - WRITTEN STATEMENT OUTLINE INTRODUCTION STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT • Continent-wide Trends • Transnational Challenges U.S. AFRICA COMMAND’S APPROACH • U.S. Security Interests, Priorities, and Objectives in Africa • Listening to Our African Partners • A Regional Perspective • Integrated Interagency Team PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES • Building Operational Capacity • Building Institutional Capacity • Growing Human Capital RESOURCING FOR THE FUTURE • Fostering Sustained Engagement • Enhancing Operational Reach and Ensuring Rapid Response to Crisis • Taking Care of Our People CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION It is my privilege as Commander of United States Africa Command to present to Congress our Posture Statement for 2011. United States Africa Command protects American lives and promotes our national interests by advancing security and stability in Africa. We follow two main lines of effort: building the security capacity of our African partners and preparing for a wide range of potential crises. U.S. Africa Command’s operations, programs, and activities contribute to reducing the threats to our citizens and interests both abroad and at home by helping African states provide for their own security. We seek to enhance regional stability through support to and partnership with African regional organizations. Our planning and training are designed to prevent conflict while simultaneously ensuring that U.S. Africa Command is prepared to respond decisively to any crisis when the President so directs. A prosperous and stable Africa is strategically important to the United States. An Africa that can generate and sustain broad based economic development will contribute to global growth, which is a long-standing American interest. However, poverty in many parts of Africa contributes to an insidious cycle of instability, conflict, environmental degradation, and disease that erodes confidence in national institutions and governing capacity. This in turn often creates the conditions for the emergence of a wide-range of transnational security threats that can threaten the American homeland and our regional interests. Our primary effort for increasing stability and deterring conflict is focused on building partner capacity--one of six core Department of Defense (DOD) mission areas identified in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The Command is helping African states transform their militaries into operationally capable and professional institutions that are subordinate to civilian authority, respect human rights, adhere to the rule of law, and are viewed by their citizens as servants and protectors of the people. We assist our African partners in building capacities to counter transnational threats from violent extremist organizations; to stem illicit trafficking in humans, narcotics, and weapons; to support peacekeeping operations; and to address the consequences of humanitarian disasters--whether man-made or natural--that cause loss of life and displace populations. In many instances, the positive effects we achieve are disproportionate to the modest investment in resources. Dramatic events taking place in Africa, as demonstrated by the unfolding situation across North Africa, have shown how quickly the strategic environment can change. It has also shown the value of the Nation’s investment in the Command. As of the writing of this report, the situation in Libya remains unclear. The Command is prepared to respond in a variety of ways pending National decisions. We will maintain our steady focus on security cooperation with our African partners, and stand ready to protect American lives and interests. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT The challenges and opportunities in U.S. Africa Command’s Area of Responsibility (AOR) are dynamic and complex. Our AOR includes 52 African States more than 800 ethnic groups, over 1000 languages, and a diverse geography three and a half times the size of the continental United States. Its rapidly growing population presents a complex mix of political, economic, social, and demographic challenges. Continent-wide Trends The global economic crisis disrupted a period of sustained economic growth in Africa. However, according to a 2010 report developed jointly by the African Development Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission on Africa, the continent’s economies are resilient and the prospects for regaining economic momentum are good. Earlier debt relief and aid programs ensured that many African governments were not burdened with onerous financial obligations, and their commodity-based economies appear poised to rebound faster than countries that are more dependent on financial and manufacturing sectors. Demographic trends highlight the urgent need for sustained and broad-based economic growth throughout Africa. High birth rates, a youth bulge, and urban congestion stress the ability of many governments to provide basic services, education and jobs. Forty-three percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is below the age of 15. This population could provide further advances in developing and consolidating democracy; however, if unaddressed, this potential pool of undereducated and unemployed youth could present a possible source of instability and potential recruiting pool for violent extremist organizations or narcotics traffickers. The rapid expansion of already strained urban areas with limited infrastructure will increase competition for limited jobs, social services, housing, food, and water as Africa’s population is expected to double to two billion by 2050. A welcome development across the continent is that several African conflicts have ended in the last ten years--Liberia, Angola, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Chad, and the North-South Sudanese conflict. However, as recent events in Cote d’Ivoire and Darfur illustrate, many of these settlements and compromises remain fragile. African states are working hard to meet their own security challenges. Today, Africans comprise 30 percent of UN peacekeeping forces worldwide and 50 percent of peacekeeping forces deployed across the African continent. At any given time there are approximately 25,000 African soldiers deployed in support of UN and African Union (AU) peacekeeping missions. Five African countries--Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Ethiopia, and South Africa--rank amongst the top 15 UN troop-contributing nations, and Uganda and Burundi are the major contributors to the AU peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Also, the development of the AU and its Regional Economic Communities, growing regional cooperation among neighboring states, the efforts to establish the African Standby Force, regional cooperation by Gulf of Guinea states to improve maritime security, and combined efforts to combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) demonstrate a growing continent-wide commitment to establishing stability. Though much of Africa is peaceful today, conflict remains a significant problem that drains resources and saps the confidence needed for Africa to realize its potential. These lingering conflicts are predominantly driven by internal fissures rather than external interstate disputes. The conflict between the Nigerian federal government and a variety of alienated groups in the oil and gas rich Niger Delta region continues and is a concern as the 2011 elections approach. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to recover slowly from one of Africa's most devastating wars. With over 20,000 soldiers, the UN mission in the DRC is the largest and most expensive peacekeeping operation in the world. Additionally, the LRA, although diminished since Uganda began operations against it in 2008, continues its horrific actions, which threaten stability in central Africa. Sudan remains a concern as the governments of the north and south implement the results of the January 2011 independence referendum. North and South Sudan will need to resolve contentious issues like oil wealth sharing, debt, and border demarcation before the end of the mandated Comprehensive Peace Agreement timeline set for July 2011. The new government of Southern Sudan will face significant challenges uniting an ethnically disparate populous while building both state institutions and economic infrastructure. Concerning elections, the positive democratizing trend that emerged in the 1990s has slowed somewhat during the last few years as some nations continue to suffer from constitutional tampering, rigged elections, and intimidation of opposition candidates. African elections in the near term are likely to produce mixed results for democratization. However, the proliferation of civil and political opposition groups enabled by social media, increased voter participation, local press coverage of political events, greater citizen access to information, and continued international attention will help promote transparent and democratic elections in the 22 national contests scheduled in 2011. The recent changes of government in Tunisia and Egypt vividly illustrate these trends, as the power of social media and greater citizen access to information has empowered ordinary citizens. Good governance builds the trust and confidence necessary for regional cooperation and economic development, and provides the leverage for national and regional programs to foster growth and stability. The African states making progress toward free and fair elections, open regulatory practices, and the provision of essential services are, more often than not, reliable partners trusted by their neighbors. Those states with weak governments are less stable and less dependable. Transnational Threats There are numerous transnational threats in Africa, with violent extremism, piracy, and narcotics trafficking constituting three of the most dangerous. Many African states recognize these threats and are taking positive actions--often with Africa Command’s assistance--to confront them. Somalia remains a failed state: divided, weak, and fragile. Despite the intentions of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) to establish the sinews of a functioning state, Somalia is unable to provide essential services or control of its territory on its own. It does not have a civil service, central bank, judicial system, police force, or functioning cross-clan military. Inter-clan rivalries and the Islamic extremist groups al-Shabaab and Hizbul al-Islam continue to challenge Somali’s ability to form a functioning and stable government, and al-Shabaab controls much of southern Somalia. The survival of the TFG in Mogadishu depends, in large measure, on the presence of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the more than 8,000 troops supplied by willing African partners. Linked to Somalia’s instability is al-Qaida’s dramatic increase in influence in east Africa over the last year. In early 2010, al-Shabaab announced their alignment with al-Qaida. This alliance provides al-Qaida a safe haven to plan global terror operations, train foreign fighters, and conduct global terror operations. The July 2010 attacks in Kampala, Uganda, demonstrate a willingness and capability to expand the conflict beyond Somalia. This situation poses a direct threat to the security of the United States. Piracy remains a significant problem off the coast of Somalia. The murder of four U.S. citizens aboard the sailing vessel Quest this February demonstrates that piracy is a lethal threat--not just an economic inconvenience or acceptable business risk. The pirates have adapted to the increased international naval presence in the Gulf of Aden by extending their operational reach as far south as the Mozambique Channel and east into the Indian Ocean by hundreds of miles. The number of ships and hostages held by Somalia-based pirates is at an all-time high. The increasing operational reach of Somali pirates vividly illustrates that the dangers emanating from ungoverned spaces rarely remain local. The Sahel region continues to experience attacks and kidnappings by al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, an Algerian-based group with relative safe haven in northern Mali. If al-Qaida affiliates grow unchecked in the Horn of Africa or across the Sahel, it may lead to further attacks against U.S. interests overseas or in the homeland. Illicit trafficking of narcotics poses a significant threat to regional stability in both West and East Africa. Western Africa is a critical transshipment point for South American cocaine. Increasing European cocaine demand, transportation availability, and negligible risk of interdiction contribute to West Africa’s importance in the narcotics trade. The cocaine transiting through this area constitutes from 30 to 60 percent of European demand, with relative wholesale values exceeding the gross domestic products of some affected West African states. East Africa is also facing trafficking challenges, but in the form of Afghan heroin via the Makran Coast of Pakistan pouring into world markets. UNITED STATES AFRICA COMMAND’S APPROACH U.S. Africa Command’s approach to the continent is guided by our national interests and priorities, our theater objectives, and three operating principles. • We listen and learn from our African partners; • We understand and address the continent using a regional framework; and, • We collaborate as part of an interagency team. U.S. Security Interests, Priorities, and Theater Objectives U.S. Africa Command’s programs and activities directly support American national security interests. Our vital national security interest in Africa is protecting the lives and interests of the American people by reducing threats to the homeland and abroad. We support the United States Government’s (USG) five priorities in Africa: good governance, economic progress, preventing and resolving conflicts, strong public health programs, and helping our African partners develop the capacity to meet the demands of transnational challenges. In supporting these national priorities, U.S. Africa Command focuses on preventing and resolving conflict and helping our African partners develop their own security capacity. To focus our efforts, U.S. Africa Command has established the following theater objectives: • Ensure that the al-Qaida networks and associated violent extremists do not attack the United States; • Maintain assured access and freedom of movement throughout our AOR; • Assist African states and regional organizations in developing the will, capability, and capacity to combat transnational threats such as terrorism, piracy, and the illicit trafficking of weapons, people and narcotics; • Assist African states and regional organizations in developing the capacity to execute effective continental peace operations and to respond to crises; and, • Encourage African militaries to operate under civilian authority, respect the rule of law, abide by international human rights norms, and contribute to stability in their respective states. Listening to Our African Partners U.S. Africa Command values the views of our African partners and learns from them. Our partners have expressed four common defense-oriented goals consistent with American interests and the Command’s theater objectives. These goals are: • That they have capable and accountable military forces that perform professionally and with integrity; • That their forces are supported and sustained by effective, legitimate, and professional security institutions; • That they have the capability to exercise the means nationally and regionally to dissuade, deter, and defeat transnational threats; and, • That they have the capacity to increase their support to international peacekeeping efforts. These goals are in agreement with our emphasis on preventing conflict and enhancing regional stability to protect American lives and interests in Africa and in our homeland. A Regional Perspective To identify and analyze the relationships among crosscutting security issues on the vast continent, we view Africa regionally. The five regions--East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, North Africa, and Southern Africa roughly correspond to the AU’s five primary Regional Economic Communities. The Command’s staff is responsible for establishing and supporting our African partnerships and developing programs and activities, and is organized along the same regional lines. East Africa The East African states include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, and the island states of Comoros and Seychelles. The interlocking security challenges of Somalia’s instability, Southern Sudan’s transition to statehood, al-Shabaab’s dangerous alignment with al-Qaida, which threatens not only the region but also the American homeland and interests, and the persistent threat from LRA require both regional and bilateral solutions. East African states recognize these challenges and are taking steps to meet them. Uganda is a major troop contributor to AMISOM and is involved in operations against the LRA. Moreover, Djibouti has emerged as a stable partner in a dangerous region and provides our only enduring military infrastructure in continental Africa, Camp Lemonnier. In East Africa, Combined Joint Task Force -- Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) is essential to U.S. Africa Command’s effort to build the partner capacity necessary to counter violent extremism and address regional security issues. It is the Command’s element for conducting Operation Enduring Freedom -- Horn of Africa. CJTF-HOA conducts engagement activities by employing small teams throughout the region. Typical military-to-military engagements include officer and non-commissioned officer mentoring, counter-terrorism training, peace support operations, and disaster response planning and preparation. Civil Affairs teams operating from Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti help partner nations improve civil-military relations in their communities. CJTF-HOA is a model for multinational and interagency collaboration, and plays a key role in supporting two important Department of State initiatives; the Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program as part of the larger Global Peace Operations Initiative, and the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism (PREACT). West Africa The countries of Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe comprise West Africa. West Africa features a diverse population, straddles the transition zone between Christianity and Islam, and retains overlapping French, Portuguese, and British influences. Today West Africa experiences political instability and great disparities in wealth. Recent election disputes in Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire are indicative of stubborn regional problems. Liberia’s revitalization, however, demonstrates that West African states can take positive steps to overcome violence, poverty, and disorder. Nigeria, by virtue of its location, population, significant gross domestic product, and oil reserves is a major power in the region, and one of the continent’s most politically and economically significant states. Nigeria provides regional leadership through the Gulf of Guinea Commission and Economic Community of West Africa States. Nigeria, along with Ghana and Senegal, are emerging in West Africa as critical partners essential to our efforts to enhance stability and security in this important region. U.S. Africa Command assists in developing the capacity of individual West African states and encourages regional security cooperation. Exercise FLINTLOCK 11 in February and March 2011 was a special operations exercise focused on military interoperability and capacity building with partner nations in North and West Africa. Approximately 669 African, European and U.S. participants from 17 nations trained together in this 17-day exercise. In addition, 9 of the 15 West African countries participate in Africa Partnership Station, where their focus is on enhancing their maritime capabilities and developing multinational approaches to security in the Gulf of Guinea. In support of Liberia’s revitalization, U.S. Africa Command contributes to a sustained multi-year defense sector reform operation to help establish effective armed forces in Liberia: Operation ONWARD LIBERTY (OOL). OOL is a dedicated DOD and Department of State effort that follows three interrelated lines of operation that include security force assistance to the Armed Forces of Liberia, a U.S. Coast Guard effort to help establish a maritime law enforcement capability in the Liberian Economic Exclusion Zone, and mentorship and advisor support to the Liberian Ministry of Defense. Central Africa The Central African states of Chad, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Angola, DRC, and Central African Republic extend from the middle of the continent east to the Great Lakes, and westward to the Atlantic Ocean. This is one of the most geographically diverse regions in the world and is wealthy in resources. For example, Angola is reaping the rewards of new oil wealth, but is still developing programs to generate broad-based, sustained economic growth. Corruption, weak political institutions, high instances of pandemic disease, and an inability to secure their maritime domain, borders, and natural resources hinder Central Africa’s progress. The lingering effects of the DRC conflict remain the primary challenge to peace and stability in the region. As part of the effort to help the DRC establish the rule of law and legitimate national institutions, U.S. Africa Command has been working with other U.S. agencies and international partners to improve the Congolese military’s ability to serve its citizens. Specific examples of U.S. government efforts include strengthening the military justice system, improving training capacity, developing agricultural projects designed to reduce military personnel dependency on local populations, and improving indigenous training capacity. The LRA continues to threaten vulnerable populations in northern Uganda and parts of the eastern DRC, Central African Republic, and Southern Sudan. The “Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Reconstruction Act of 2009” directed the United States Government to develop a strategy to “mitigate and eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability” posed by the LRA. U.S. Africa Command is the key DOD participant in the interagency effort to assist our regional partners in apprehending or removing the group’s leaders, to protect civilians, to provide humanitarian assistance, and to promote justice and reconciliation in LRA-affected areas. North Africa The countries of North Africa are Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. Separated physically and culturally from sub-Saharan Africa by the Sahara Desert, this region maintains strong links to Southern Europe and the Middle East. North Africa is a critical gateway to sea-lane choke points as well as air and sea routes into Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Trafficking of all types (human, drugs, weapons), economic stagnation, and ungoverned space in the Sahel make the region vulnerable to extremist influences and activities. The political and social upheaval that erupted across North Africa has captured the attention of the international community. However, it is too early to assess properly either the myriad causes or the outcomes of these important events. Al-Qaida in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb has emerged as a direct threat to the stability and security of North Africa as well as the West African Sahelian countries of Niger and Mali. To assist these countries in meeting this extremist challenge, U.S. Africa Command supports the Department of State led interagency Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership through Operation ENDURING FREEDOM -- Trans-Sahara (OEF-TS). OEF-TS strengthens regional counterterrorism and security capabilities by employing small Mobile Training Teams, Civil Military Support Elements, Joint Planning and Assistance Teams, and through Senior Leader Engagements. Southern Africa Southern Africa comprises nine continental states including Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and two island states--Madagascar and Mauritius. In many dimensions, Southern Africa is highly developed economically; yet, the region still has some significant problems. Governance challenges, inflation, and refugees from Zimbabwe present challenges to Southern African nations. Two states with great potential, Zimbabwe and Madagascar, have difficult internal political challenges and are under economic sanctions, while Botswana continues to rise from one of the world’s poorest countries to middle-income status. South Africa and the United States recently institutionalized a steadily improving era of cooperation when Secretary Clinton and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, established an ongoing Strategic Dialogue to foster cooperation in areas of mutual concern. South Africa is an active participant in U.S. Africa Command’s primary maritime security engagement initiative, Africa Partnership Station (APS). Integrated Interagency Team U.S. Africa Command is part of a diverse interagency team with abundant talents, expertise, and capabilities. An integrated interagency effort requires understanding the institutional perspectives of each agency, as well as each agency’s statutory responsibilities and authorities. U.S. Africa Command’s contribution to an integrated approach starts in our Stuttgart headquarters, where the Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities is a senior U.S. diplomat. In addition, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Development Advisor helps ensure that our military programs and activities support and complement our government’s development programs and activities. We have made progress in creating a collaborative interagency environment in U.S. Africa Command. While we welcome the skills and capabilities our interagency partners bring to our mission, we are still working toward fulfilling our vision of an integrated whole-of-government approach to the challenges in Africa. We would benefit from increased interagency support from other USG agencies and departments. U.S. Africa Command also works closely with embassy country teams to ensure that our programs and activities support and complement their Mission Strategic and Resource Plans. To enhance this cooperative interagency effort, our annual Theater Security Cooperation Conference brings together over 300 stakeholders from U.S. embassies in Africa, USG agencies, and our component commands to ensure our programs and activities are synchronized and integrated with those of the other government agencies. PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES U.S. Africa Command is committed to the delivery and sustainment of effective security cooperation programs that build our partners’ security capacity. At our partners’ request, we design and develop programs, activities, and exercises that support their four common defense goals. When we complete an activity, we stay engaged with our partners to foster long-term gains and successes. Our intent is to achieve a persistent and sustained level of engagement. Our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Special Operations forces as well as CJTF-HOA set the conditions for the success of our security cooperation programs and activities on the continent. They perform detailed planning, provide essential command and control, establish and sustain relations with our partners, and develop processes to provide timely operational assessments. Partner security capacity building programs focus on three overlapping capacity building functions: • Building operational capacity; • Building institutional capacity; and, • Developing human capital. Building Operational Capacity Building Operational Capacity is about more than the number of troops and pieces of equipment. It is about aligning the right military capabilities--ground, maritime, and air--against a partner’s unique mission requirements, as well as developing the necessary operational enablers that foster the independent sustainment of those capabilities. We work closely with our partners to align the right military capabilities against threat and mission requirements, as well as develop the necessary operational enablers. Examples of programs and activities that help our African partners build operational capacity, as mentioned earlier, include OEF-TS, exercise FLINTLOCK, PREACT, and the GPOI/ACOTA programs. Beyond these important programs and activities, the National Guard State Partnership Program, APS, the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership, exercises AFRICA ENDEAVOR and NATURAL FIRE, Medical Capabilities and Readiness Exercises, and Africa Deployment Assistance Partnership Team all contribute to partner operational capacity. The State Partnership Program connects a U.S. state’s National Guard to an African nation for military training and relationship building. This program builds long-term relationships, promotes access, enhances African military professionalism and capabilities, strengthens interoperability, and enables healthy civil-military relations. Our current National Guard partnerships are: Botswana and North Carolina, Ghana and North Dakota, Liberia and Michigan, Morocco and Utah, Nigeria and California, Senegal and Vermont, South Africa and New York, and Tunisia and Wyoming. Working closely with the National Guard Bureau, the Command will seek to expand this highly effective program. Africa Partnership Station (APS) is U.S. Africa Command’s primary maritime security engagement program. APS strengthens our partners’ maritime security capacity by focusing on the development of planning skills, maritime domain awareness, response capabilities, and regional integration. In 2010, APS included representatives from nine European allies, 23 African countries, and Brazil. This was more than double the number of partners participating in the planning and execution in previous years. African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP) is a maritime partner program conducted with the United States Coast Guard that contributes to operational as well as institutional capacity. AMLEP develops partner capacity in maritime governance and maritime security by engaging partner nations at both the national interagency level and tactical enforcement level. AMLEP operations result in the apprehension of vessels engaged in illegal operations and enable U.S. diplomatic efforts that foster good governance. AFRICA ENDEAVOR is our premier communications exercise designed to encourage interoperability, information exchange, and regional cooperation among African nations so they can coordinate with one another during natural disasters and emergencies. Last year in Ghana, communications experts from more than 30 African nations participated in the continent’s largest communications interoperability exercise. A highlight was the direct satellite link and associated command and control tactics, techniques, and procedures established between the African Union’s Peace Support Center in Addis Ababa and the exercise main body in Accra, Ghana. Joint and multinational exercise NATURAL FIRE seeks to improve interoperability and build partner capacity to respond to complex humanitarian emergencies, specifically planning for possible pandemic influenza outbreaks. The fiscal year 2010 (FY10) exercise included more than 500 U.S. soldiers training alongside more than 600 troops from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. The FY11 exercise will be held for the first time in Tanzania and is scheduled for July and August 2011. Medical Capabilities and Readiness Exercises, referred to as MEDFLAG, provide medical training to the host nation’s medical personnel as well as offering clinics for residents in the local area. A September 2010 MEDFLAG bi-lateral exercise in Kinshasa, DRC, saw 90 service members from U.S. Africa Command and its components train more than 200 members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in combat lifesaving skills, preventative medicine, and mass casualty procedures. As part of the exercise, doctors from the DRC worked side-by-side with their American counterparts to treat more than 1800 Congolese in a three-day clinic. Africa Deployment Assistance Partnership Team assists African partners to build logistics capacity by training African partner non-commissioned officers how to deploy their equipment in support of peacekeeping operations. Of the eight partner nations who completed the training in 2009, the Ugandans were the first to get their 23 non-commissioned officers certified to plan, palletize, and load cargo on peacekeeping missions. Building Institutional Capacity To support the building of institutional capacity, we focus on developing and sustaining a government’s ability to program and allocate security resources, establish national command and control, provide civilian oversight of military forces, and develop military and security recruiting, training, and sustaining programs and policies. These functions help to ensure the readiness and independent sustainability of our partners’ military forces. An underlying premise of our building institutional capacity efforts is that military forces must be subordinate to civil authority and accepted as legitimate members of a civil society based on the rule of law. We have learned from Operation ONWARD LIBERTY in Liberia that rebuilding a state’s security institutions requires more than military means. Institutional capacity building is an inherently interagency endeavor. Success in this mission requires a long-term commitment by numerous USG agencies and sufficient resources in all departments to ensure success. ONWARD LIBERTY illustrates how we can achieve positive effects that enhance the capability of our partners and support U.S. interests disproportionate to our modest investment in resources. With a small investment, the USG is helping Liberia transform their Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces, and Coast Guard. Liberia’s progress will contribute to regional stability and provide a model for other African states transitioning from conflicts. Moreover, these lessons will inform how we approach Security Force Assistance in other areas of Africa, such as Southern Sudan. Other programs and activities that are building institutional capacity include Partnership for Integrated Logistics Operations and Tactics, The Pandemic Response Program, Military Intelligence Security Cooperation, and special staff assistance and mentoring programs. Partnership for Integrated Logistics Operations and Tactics is an operational-level seminar jointly designed and funded in partnership with the Canadian Ministry of Defense, Pearson Peacekeeping Centre and the GPOI program. This program builds long-term operational logistics planning capacity within the AU Standby Force, and promotes interoperability with the U.S. military. The Pandemic Response Program focuses on strengthening our African partners’ military capacities to plan and respond to potential pandemics. Our efforts are reinforced with three years of funding from USAID, which cooperates with the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other partner organizations in African countries. Military Intelligence Security Cooperation develops not only institutional capacity, but also human capital by enhancing partner country military and security service professionalism and the development of military intelligence organizations that respond to civilian authority and respect the rule of law. Military intelligence operational capacity building is designed to support the execution of full-spectrum operations, including counter terrorism, intelligence support to peacekeeping operations, and intelligence support to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. To support the development of institutional capacity, we also conduct special staff programs. Through mentoring and exchanges, our inspector general, chaplain, legal counsel, surgeon, public affairs, and other special staff elements work closely with partners to improve readiness and professionalism. Additionally, our African partners recognize that the backbone of a professional military is an effective non-commissioned officer (NCO) corps. Depending on the need, we help develop doctrine, training plans, and facility plans while also engaging with partner leadership in developing their NCO corps. Developing Human Capital To develop human capital, we focus on developing the professional attributes and values that complement capacity and institution building efforts and enhance the standing of the military among members of civil society. We encourage our partners to develop the capacity to take care of their military forces and their families, which increases readiness. Each positive engagement and activity alongside our forces helps our partners develop the professional attributes and values essential for an effective military. The African Leader Development Initiative is a U.S. Africa Command program that assists in the strengthening of our African partner’s warrant officer and noncommissioned officer corps. U.S. Africa Command and our components accomplish this by providing warrant and noncommissioned officer academies with curriculum development assistance, instructors, guest speakers, and familiarization visits for our African partners to our Services’ premier NCO academies. Additionally, 2010 saw the first annual African Defense Joint Warrant Officer/Sergeant Major Symposium convene in Washington, D.C. This symposium brought together senior warrant and noncommissioned officers from seventeen African countries to collaborate on civil-military relations, regional security issues, peace support operations, Human Immunodeficiency Virus prevention, sexual and gender based violence prevention, and initiatives for women in the armed forces. This is an example of the outstanding support we receive from our Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS), which co-hosted the 2010 symposium as well as many other events. U.S. Africa Command relies on the social, cultural, and academic expertise ACSS provides to inform our cooperative efforts with our sub-Saharan African partners. The Military Intelligence Basic Officer Course-Africa, the Military Intelligence Professionals Course, and the Military Intelligence NCO Course-Africa are U.S. Africa Command-sponsored courses that assist partner nations in further developing fundamental military leadership and intelligence skills. They enhance capacity for intelligence analysis and sharing among nations and to provide an environment designed to improve collaboration within the region’s military intelligence community. International Military Education and Training (IMET) is a long-standing and well-regarded program funded by the Department of State. IMET provides military course education and training for foreign military and select civilian personnel. Professionalizing militaries and reinforcing the democratic value of elected civilian authority are among the benefits of the Department of State-led IMET and Expanded-IMET programs. These comprise the most widely used military assistance programs in U.S. Africa Command’s area of responsibility as almost every country in the AOR receives IMET. Sending African officers to our mid-level and senior staff colleges provides these officers an opportunity to not only learn about the United States and develop long-lasting professional relationships with our very best officers, but to assume greater responsibilities in meeting their security challenges upon return to their own country. Presently, 30 West and Central African flag and general officers have benefited from the IMET program. A notable IMET participant from Uganda is Major General Nathan Mugisha--the commander of the African Union’s peacekeeping mission Somalia; a U.S. Army War College graduate. RESOURCING FOR THE FUTURE U.S. Africa Command maintains a long-term commitment to our partners to ensure that stability becomes self-sustaining on the continent. Simultaneously, there are potential crises requiring prompt, decisive action, and U.S. Africa Command must be ready for these contingency operations. As we assess our capacity to execute our operations, programs and activities, we continuously evaluate our progress in four key categories: • Our ability to foster sustained engagement; • Our ability to expand our operational reach; • Our ability to respond rapidly to crisis; and, • Our ability to take care of our people. Fostering Sustained Engagement The 2010 QDR identified building security capacity of partner states as one of six key DOD mission areas. U.S. Africa Command is developing, executing, and refining a range of programs and activities that help African states build capable, professional militaries. Resourcing Sustained Engagement: Authorities As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense highlighted on numerous occasions, the strict compartmentalization of engagement funding sources can impede unity of effort and progress. Authorities are often inflexible and processes too cumbersome for today’s security challenges. For example, the at-sea training platform APS involved the cobbling together of over a dozen different funding sources from Title 10 to resource its first three years of this important program. This made establishing and administering this important program a challenge. We have had tremendous success with APS, and today the Department of State provides dedicated Title 22 funding to implement the training aspect of this program. The Global Security Contingency Fund proposed by the President offers a new approach to funding important assistance activities in an effective manner--pooling the resources and expertise of the Department of State and DOD. The Administration has requested $50 million in the State Department budget for this fund, and the Department of Defense has committed to contribute significant funding as well. This approach would create a new business model that we believe will lead to collaborative programs to respond to emergent challenges and opportunities. Resourcing Sustained Engagement: Forces Maintaining a predictable pattern of available operational forces for sustained engagement activity is critical to the success of our efforts on the continent and an ongoing challenge. U.S. Africa Command’s components and subordinate commands are the primary implementers of our programs and activities on the continent. In an environment of competing global demands for forces, we rely on the Global Force Management process for the necessary support of our engagements in Africa. Funding for the Foreign Military Financing Program Foreign Military Financing (FMF) is fundamental to our strategy of preventative rather than reactive response and represents an investment in critical relationships. Inadequate funding or inconsistent year-to-year distributions can compromise our efforts, turn our partners towards other sources, and inhibit peacekeeping and counterterrorism operations. The demand for FMF funds will always exceed resource availability. Therefore, U.S. Africa Command carefully prioritizes its FMF recommendations to the Department of State using a rigorous analytical process that considers national interests, DOD guidance, country team recommendations, host nation desires, and the host nation’s capacity to absorb and effectively employ military equipment. For example, Senegal uses this program to maintain the fleet of U.S. military trucks they acquired for peacekeeping operations using the Excess Defense Article program. Planning and Assessing Our Programs and Activities U.S. Africa Command is a judicious steward of the resources provided to us by the American people to accomplish our theater objectives. With the fiscal challenges we face at home and the competing global demands on our military forces, we are dedicated to helping build partner nation capability at the lowest cost possible. In many instances, we achieve positive effects that enhance the capability of our partners and support U.S. interests with a modest investment in resources. We do this through a detailed planning process that links our programs and activities to our theater objectives and carefully justifies resources. While it is difficult to attribute improvements in our partners’ security capacity to individual activities or engagements, the evidence indicates that we are moving in the right direction with regard to our direct engagements. In CJTF-HOA, for example, we measure our effectiveness in several ways: socio-cultural research teams, informal and formal feedback from partner nations, and through surveys. We take a broad view of our programs and activities with a robust annual command assessment process, which incorporates indicators from a range of quantitative and qualitative sources and helps guide our planning for future programs and activities. Funding for Exercises A key component of our capacity building is our Joint and Combined Exercise program. This program is dependent upon funding from the Combatant Commander’s Exercise and Engagement and Training Transformation (CE2T2) Program. These exercises improve not only the readiness of our African partners, but also increase the capabilities of U.S. forces. As our exercise program expands to meet the readiness needs of U.S. forces and partner militaries, U.S. Africa Command will place increasing demands on limited CE2T2 funds. We seek Congress’ continued support of the DOD’s request for the Combatant Commander’s Exercise, Engagement, and Training Transformation Program. Though we face challenges in the previously mentioned areas, we are also entering into a new era of opportunities. Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review The Department of State’s recent Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) is a laudable milestone on the pathway to improving interagency cooperation and collaboration. Following in the footsteps of the Department of Defense’s QDR, the QDDR made a sweeping assessment of how the Department of State and USAID could advance our national interests and effectively partner with the U.S. military in support of these interests. The QDDR’s elevation of conflict prevention and response to a core civilian mission is notable, as is the commitment to developing an integrated capability to reform security and justice sectors in fragile states. We look forward to working with our interagency partners at the Department of State and across the government as they implement the QDDR’s recommendations. African Cooperation Authority U.S. Africa Command makes maximum use of Traditional Combatant Commander Activities authorities for military-to-military and other activities. Section 1050a, a new revision to Title 10, United States Code, will be an important additional authority enabling engagements with civilian elements of Ministries of Defense, the AU, and other security organizations. This authority, provided through the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011, will open doors to broader cooperation and benefit both the United States and our African partners. We welcome this valuable addition and thank Congress for its support in creating this authority. Enhancing Operational Reach and Ensuring Rapid Response to Crisis U.S. Africa Command works to enhance our operational reach across the Command’s AOR. This supports our ability to respond to crises promptly and our long-term efforts for security as well. U.S. forces are often employed in austere environments with limited to non-existent infrastructure, port, and logistics networks. Improvements in these areas enhance our ability to respond to emergencies and threats and to meet the needs of sustained engagement. Theater Infrastructure and Posture Requirements U.S. Africa Command evaluates and refines its access needs on a regular basis, in close cooperation with the Department of State. This effort centers on gaining and maintaining the access and freedom of movement necessary to conduct day-to-day security cooperation activities and crisis response operations. We work with our components, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Department of State to update the network of Cooperative Security Locations and supporting agreements required to enable the Command to carry out its activities. As U.S. Africa Command’s sole Forward Operating Site on the continent, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, serves as a critical operational and sustainment facility (a hub for lift, logistics, intelligence, and Command, Control, Communications and Computers (C4)) in support of DOD activities in the region. It is critical for activities and operations across AOR boundaries in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Peninsula. Camp Lemonnier’s proximity to Djibouti’s air and seaport make it ideal for supporting U.S. Africa Command operations throughout the region. Of equal importance is the Camp’s ability to support DOD’s global transportation infrastructure network as a key node. Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, is essential to U.S. security interests in East Africa and the Gulf of Aden. The FY12 military construction request contains a number of important projects that will allow us to continue to enhance the capabilities of this facility. We appreciate your attention to these requests. Ensuring Rapid Response to Crisis U.S. Africa Command conducts prudent operational planning for a range of possible humanitarian and security contingencies beyond fostering sustained engagement and working to expand our operational reach. This requires the staff to continually assess potential force requirements and the lift, logistics, C4, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance enablers required to support a range of contingencies. We share our assessments regularly with Joint Staff and the Office of Secretary of Defense. Taking Care of Our People U.S. Africa Command team members and their families serve in Stuttgart, Alconbury (Molesworth), and across Africa. Quality of Life (QoL) Programs affirm our commitment to our team members and their families wherever they serve. This Command is committed to providing a strong, supportive environment fostering growth and excellence, while providing the highest quality of resources and services to our U.S. Africa Command family consistent with their commitment and dedication to serve the Nation. To that end, we created a QoL office to manage and oversee activities at the Stuttgart headquarters, Alconbury, and on the African continent. In order to understand the needs of our families stationed throughout the continent, U.S. Africa Command hosts the annual ‘Africa Command Families on the African Continent’ working group. This annual forum addresses emerging QoL issues and provides the foundation for our QoL Action Plan. This forum recently identified two issues that family members highlight on a regular basis. First, family members have requested changes that would allow expectant mothers to elect an alternate destination for obstetric care, providing an option to be with their families instead of alone at the nearest Military Treatment Facility. The second issue is the provision of student travel benefits for dependents attending accredited overseas colleges or universities off the continent in locations such as Europe. We appreciate Congress’ attention to these two important issues. To further assist our team members and their families in solving problems resulting from deployment, reunions, and other family changes, U.S. Africa Command implemented the Military and Family Life Consultant Program to support the Command headquarters, remote locations and the African continent. We currently have three consultants supporting the Stuttgart and Alconbury communities, as well as CJTF-HOA in Djibouti. We continue to focus our efforts on our members and their families, both on and off the African continent, to ensure their quality of life remains a priority and is funded properly. CONCLUSION U.S. Africa Command is protecting American lives and promoting our national interests today by helping our African partners assume a continually increasing role addressing their own security concerns. Africa’s long-term growth, stability, and economic prosperity is largely dependent on our partners’ ability to develop capable and professional militaries that are subordinate to civilian authority, respect human rights, and adhere to the rule of law. There are no short cuts to growth and stability in Africa; we must shape our efforts with an understanding of the continent and patiently sustain our efforts over time. A prosperous and stable Africa is strategically important to the United States. An Africa that can generate and sustain broad based development will contribute to global economic growth and vitality--a long-standing American interest. Prosperity and stability in Africa will ensure that it does not become a haven for those who wish to do harm to our citizens and our interests--both in the homeland and abroad. In the coming year, we will continue to support African leadership in addressing shared security challenges, take advantage of opportunities, deepen our strategic partnerships--regionally, bilaterally, and with the AU--and refine our focus in our security cooperation efforts, while also ensuring the military readiness and operational capability of U.S. Africa Command. I am grateful for the outstanding support U.S. Africa Command has received from the Congress. The continued support for our uniformed men and women, our DOD civilians and the other USG departments and agencies assigned to the command will allow their tremendous work to continue. I am proud to serve on the U.S. Africa Command team with these dedicated Americans.