Gen. Townsend visits Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana to advance mutual security interests

U. S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U. S. Africa Command, wrapped up a multi-country trip to the Southern Africa region, Nov. 17-23.

By U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs , United States Africa Command Stuttgart, Germany Nov 24, 2021

View Gallery

Gallery contains 7 images

U. S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander, U. S. Africa Command, wrapped up a multi-country trip to the Southern Africa region, Nov. 17-23. During his travels, he visited civilian and military leaders in Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana.

The first stop of the trip was in Maputo, Mozambique, where Townsend and U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Dennis Hearne met with Minister of Defense Cristóvão Chume, and Chief of General Staff Admiral Joaquim Mangrasse.

Earlier this year, U.S. forces conducted two Joint Combined Exchange Training programs between U.S. Special Operations Forces and Mozambican Commandos and Fuzileiros. The command has also facilitated tactical combat casualty care and combat lifesaver training courses for the armed forces.

“We have a meaningful partnership with Mozambique and our conversations sharpened our focus on our mutual security concerns,” Townsend said. “Our training and other engagements, such as the Joint Combined Exchange Training that happened this spring, demonstrate our partnership. We look forward to finding ways to strengthen our relationship with Mozambique in the future.”

Following his stop in Mozambique, Townsend traveled to Pretoria, South Africa where he met with Lt. Gen. Lindile Yam, Chief of Staff of the South African National Defence Force, and Maj. Gen. Mzikayise Tyhalisi, General Officer Commanding, South African Army Support Division.

“South Africa is a key partner of U.S. Africa Command and a regional leader whose contributions to regional security advance our mutual interests for a stable, secure and prosperous Africa,” Townsend said. “I am excited about upcoming opportunities to deepen this partnership.”

Townsend’s trip follows other recent, high-level U.S. military engagements including a port call by the Expeditionary Sea Base, USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB 4) in Cape Town in September.

Townsend’s final stop on the trip was to Botswana where he met with several high-level members of the government including Dr. Lemogang Kwape, Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, Lt. Gen. Placid Segokgo, commander of the Botswana Defence Forces, and other senior military members to advance the partnership between Botswana and the U.S. and to discuss opportunities to increase multilateral training and military-to-military engagements.

“The Botswanan Defence Force is an excellent example of a military with a strong, professional non-commissioned officer corps,” said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Richard Thresher, senior enlisted leader, U.S. Africa Command, who accompanied Townsend on the trip. “Their emphasis on a robust educational program throughout the career of an enlisted soldier is commendable. I look forward to continuing the strong relationship forged through the African Enlisted Development Strategy.”

Due primarily to the global pandemic, this was Townsend’s first trip to Southern Africa since taking command.

“It’s been an honor to meet with my counterparts from Mozambique, South Africa, and Botswana” Townsend said. “Our conversations have strengthened our relationships and laid a stronger foundation for expanded military interaction in the future.”

United States turns over C-130H to Botswana Defence Force

African Chiefs of Defense Conference Concludes in Botswana

Africa Defense Chiefs, U.S. Slated to Meet Tomorrow in Botswana

15 NY Army, Air Guardsmen compete in South African event

Africa Leaders Summit

South Africa

Botswana

African Enlisted Development Strategy

mozambique

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

NAIROBI, Kenya – Among the flurry of tactical live fires and squad movement drills, air ground integration and even the humanitarian initiatives at exercise Justified Accord 2025 (JA25), lies the one thing those who serve in any armed force must follow: The Law. The Law of Armed Conflict, or LOAC, is a key aspect of training for any military. JA25’s academics course aimed at learning from the international legal lessons of previous wars in an effort to reduce the amount of human suffering in future conflicts. “The soldier’s rules are a broad set of rules that we have pulled from the large breadth of international law,” said U.S. Army Maj. Tim Olliges, an operational law attorney assigned to U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), the lead U.S. Army command and planner of JA25. “The LOAC is extensive and can be complex, so we pull out the ten most critical concepts that every soldier, right down to the private, should know before they go into combat.”

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

NAIROBI, Kenya – Imagine two scenarios. Scenario 1: Dawn breaks over the capital of Kenya. A U.S. diplomat leaves his residence for the embassy. After a 20-minute ride, his car arrives at the gate and he enters. He sits in his office to begin the day when, all of a sudden, he hears an explosion through the open window. It seems far off; it is not a large explosion. He thinks maybe it was just a car accident, but minutes later he smells something bitter in the air. His eyes water, sirens blare and a U.S. Marine Corps security detail enters his office wearing gas masks. They put a mask on him and tell him they must evacuate immediately because a deadly chemical is blowing over the compound. Scenario 2: U.S. intelligence receives credible information that radiological material is being loaded onto a ship in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. Time is short and no one knows which ship, only that it will embark soon, possibly bound for the hands of violent extremists or other state actors looking to imperil the U.S. homeland. There is no time to send U.S. security forces to intercept the package. Instead, the Kenyan Disaster Response Battalion (DRB) mobilizes and arrives at the port. Using tactics and tools gained from years of training with the United States, they find the ship and the weapon, placed there by a violent extremist organization, and prevent its departure, defeating the threat to America and its citizens. Similar scenarios have happened before in other areas of the world.

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

The U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and Belgian Ministry of Defence, in partnership with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and U.S. Indo Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Chaplain Directorates, hosted the world’s largest annual meeting of senior military religious leaders at the 36th Annual NATO & Partner International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference (IMCCC) in Brussels, Belgium, January 27-31, 2025.

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels

Army lawyers provide training on rules for armed conflict at exercise Justified Accord

US, Kenya prepare for the unimaginable CBRN threat

36th Annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference and First Chaplain Africa Forum held in Brussels