US military carries out joint exercises in Africa
JOHANNESBURG — The U.S. military has begun an exercise in the African nation of Gabon with personnel from 25 African countries to improve command and control between forces for possible peacekeeping or anti-terrorism missions, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Some 200 personnel are participating in the Africa Endeavor exercise that tests abilities of African militaries to communicate with each other, Vince Crawley, a spokesman for U.S. Africa Command, told The Associated Press.
Africom, as the command is known, is sponsoring the exercise and much of the instruction is done by U.S. military personnel based in Europe and the United States, said Eric S. Elliott, another U.S. military spokesman.
"The overall objective is to achieve a level of communications interoperability and compatibility that will allow partner nations to successfully conduct future multinational operations," Elliott said.
Guinea, whose military forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators Monday, killing more than 150 people, was not participating, the spokesmen said.
AP | Posted 11.30.2009 | Home