General Joseph Dunford, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, stopped at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, to meet the Marines and sailors of Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 12.2 on Memorial Day, May 28, 2012.



The Special-Purpose MAGTF is made up of more than 120 Reserve Marines and sailors from across the United States and is commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Gerard Wynn of 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company from Mobile, Ala. The Marines of Special-Purpose MAGTF-12 provide support to Marine Forces Africa and U.S. Africa Command missions across the continent.



General Dunford was in France for the 94th anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood this Memorial Day weekend to remember the Marines and French soldiers who died fighting the battle. The ceremony he attended also serves as a reminder of the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and France, but during his meeting with the Marines and sailors of the Special-Purpose MAGTF he talked about new relationships.



"These teams that you're sending into Africa are helping to build our partner nations capabilities, and they're developing relationships that we can build on," said Dunford. "When we go into these countries, we do an assessment, we work with the country to develop a plan, and everything we do is done for a purpose. None of this training should be ad hoc, and the troops we're working with should improve from year to year such that we can see improvements over time."



The relationship between the U.S. and France predates the Constitution. During the Revolutionary War, France was building U.S. military capacity against the British. The relationship has changed since then, but the 94th anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood allows the two countries an opportunity to reflect on their past. Meanwhile, the Marines and sailors of the Special-Purpose MAGTF are supporting U.S. Africa Command to develop new relationships, and build on old ones in Africa.



Building partner capacity is a complex, time-consuming process, but the Marines have been learning the process over the past few years through mentoring and from learning from each other.



"We need to remember what we've learned. Once the training is planned and conducted, there should be a constant presence. We should take the training to the next level," said Dunford, "We need to be building and growing with the defense forces of our partners. We need to be asking ourselves what we're building. Can we see the impact?"



For U.S. Africa Command the impact is two-fold. While the Special-Purpose MAGTF Marines and sailors are working day-to-day with regional partners, they also provide U.S. Africa Command with a limited crisis response asset.



During his 2012 statement for the House Armed Services Committee, General Carter Ham, commander, U.S. Africa Command said, "The Special-Purpose MAGTF is an invaluable asset for the command and increases our ability to engage on the continent. Additionally, the Special-Purpose MAGTF provides a limited crisis response capability for natural disasters, evacuations and other crises."



Currently, the Special-Purpose MAGTF's crisis response ability is limited. All of the training teams are engaged in Africa working with regional partners, but that doesn't mean that they can't be redirected.



"We want the U.S. Marine Corps to be the service of choice for geographic combatant commanders during crisis response and humanitarian assistance," said Dunford. "We can't provide that capability unless we have units forward deployed and actively engaged in the commander's area of responsibility, building partner nation capacity on a day-to-day basis. That's what you're providing U.S. Africa Command right now. The Special-Purpose MAGTF in Africa provides General Ham with readily available assets for crisis response. The time needed to redirect training teams currently operating in Africa is much shorter than deploying a unit from the U.S."



The concept of forward-deployed Marines is not new. The Marine Corps is proud of its expeditionary nature, but over the past few years the Corps has been dedicated to specific land-based engagements in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. Instead of losing a forward presence in each geographic command, the Marine Corps has leaned on Marine Expeditionary Units and reserve units, like the one here at Special-Purpose MAGTF 12.2, to source missions around the world.



"Over the past 10 years, the Marine Corps relied heavily on the reserve to augment active duty units in Iraq and Afghanistan." said Dunford. "Beyond the work with the active component, Marine Forces Reserve has helped the Marine Corps provide mission-capable Marines and sailors to the commanders of U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. European Command, and in your case U.S. Africa Command. Marine Forces Reserve has been supplying these commanders with small units made of volunteers who bring unique skill sets from their civilian life. Reservists like you have helped to make the Marine Corps relevant to the geographic combatant commanders in a real way."