Category: Military

Military

In Africa, U.S.-Trained Militaries Are Ousting Civilian Governments in Coups

By Michael M. Phillips | Wall Street Journal

A flurry of military coups across Africa has disrupted the U.S. strategy of enlisting local armies to counter Islamist extremists and other security threats. The U.S. has trained thousands of African soldiers, from infantrymen rehearsing counterterrorism raids on the edge of the Sahara to senior commanders attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The programs are a linchpin of U.S. policy on the continent, intended to help African allies professionalize their armed forces to fight armed opponents both foreign and domestic.

But U.S. commanders have watched with dismay over the past year as military leaders in several African allies—including officers with extensive American schooling—have overthrown civilian governments and seized power for themselves, triggering laws that forbid the U.S. government from providing them with weapons or training.

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Military

Why 40 African armies met at a Fort Benning summit — and why some didn’t

By Davis Winkie | Army Times

COLUMBUS, Ga. — It was a rare sight, especially on American soil. Seated around nested U-shaped tables in the heart of the city’s renovated ironworks were senior military officials representing nearly three-quarters of Africa’s 54 UN-recognized countries.

They were there last week for the African Land Forces Summit, a week-long, U.S.-brokered annual conference that brings together army officials from across the continent and other countries that maintain a presence in Africa.

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Military

US Army Celebrates Kenyan Who Became Combat Medic in Just 4 Months

By BRIAN KIMANI | Kenyans.co.ke

Joining the military, especially in the United States, demands more than physical fitness as recruits undergo vigorous tests and screening to ascertain their eligibility. 

Joshua Omwenga’s aspirations of joining the army were but a distant dream until they came to fruition. Omwenga, a Kenyan, is currently serving as a combat medic with the 444th Minimal Care Detachment unit in the US military. 

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Military

American Soldiers with Nigerian Roots Support Blackjack Forward

The United States Army serves as a beacon of inspiration and hope to not only American citizens, but people all over the world. It is the gold standard for melding various cultures and races, including Africans into effective military teams throughout the ranks. Two Nigerian- born solders, Spc. Davidson Momodebe, of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team and Capt. Daniel Edomwandagbon with the 418th contracting brigade are part of this military heritage.

by Staff Sgt. Gregory Stevens | DVIDS

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Military, Sports

Kenyans in US Army miss 2020 Olympics marathon slots

By Hilary Kimuyu | Nairobi News

Five Kenyan-born athletes who took to the field in the United States to try and qualify to represent their new country at the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics, have failed to make the cut.

The five, 2LT Elkanah Kibet, SSG Augustus Maiyo, SGT Leonard Korir, SGT Samuel Kosgei and SPC Haron Lagat are all soldiers in the US Army.

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Military

Lake Crystal Resident Serves as Navy Officer in Africa After Emigrating from Nigeria

By Ashley Hanley|Story by Lt. Jennifer K Cunningham

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – Lt. Victor Agunbiade, a Lake Crystal, Minnesota resident, is a Navy Reserve supply officer currently serving at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti as the dispersing officer in charge of dispersing and money collection for the entire African region. Located in an austere environment, Camp Lemonnier is a U.S. Navy base located in the Horn of Africa and is the only enduring U.S. military base on the continent of Africa.

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Military

Airbase 201: America completes drone base in Niger Republic

By StrategyPage

After five years of negotiations, followed by years of construction delays, the new American airbase in Niger has been completed. Called Airbase 201, it cost $110 million and is one of the most expensive U.S. Air Force foreign airbase construction projects even undertaken. The main purpose of the base is to improve surveillance and intel collection about Islamic terrorists in the region. That will be accomplished by basing UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) there along with some manned aircraft.

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Military

Marine Raider who earned Silver Star for heroism during Mali hotel attack now on Capitol Hill

By: Shawn Snow

Then-Gunnery Sgt. Jarad Stout was sleeping in the early morning hours of Nov. 20, 2015, when the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali, was attacked by gunmen affiliated with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb. The armed militants were holding about 170 people hostage, including a dozen Americans.

But when the Marine Raider, who was serving as a liaison to the U.S. embassy at the time, received word of an “active shooter,” he and his team were “out the door in five minutes.” Stout had very little initial information regarding the attack, but he devised a plan and led his team, braving grenades and small arms fire, to help rescue hostages.

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Military

Revealed: The U.S. has 36 code-named military operations in Africa

By Nick Turse and Sean D. Naylor

Many Americans first became aware of U.S. military operations in Africa in October 2017, after the Islamic State ambushed American troops near Tongo Tongo, Niger, killing four U.S. soldiers and wounding two others.

Just after the attack, U.S. Africa Command said U.S. troops were providing “advice and assistance” to local counterparts. Later, it would become clear that those troops — the 11-man Operational Detachment-Alpha Team 3212 — were working out of the town of Oullam with a larger Nigerian force under the umbrella of Operation Juniper Shield, a wide-ranging counterterrorism effort in northwest Africa.

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Military

U.S. military may join Mozambique cyclone rescue, aid agencies told

U.S. military teams could join the cyclone rescue effort in Mozambique, a representative of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said, according to the minutes of a humanitarian meeting published on Thursday.

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Diplomacy, Military

AFRICOM Commander engages with African leaders in Washington

The top U.S. commander in Africa met with African leaders in Washington D.C. recently to discuss U.S. Africa Command’s role in the new National Defense Strategy and the value of partner capacity.

Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser engaged with 21 defense attachés and the African Union Ambassador to the U.S. in a wide-ranging discussion at the Africa House, addressing various strategies and common challenges on the continent, Africa Command said.

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Military

Nigerian Navy and US Navy Start War Games

The US Navy and Nigerian Navy have commenced a multinational maritime excercise code named, Obangame Express 2019, in Lagos, Nigeria.

The maritime excercise was preceded with the commissioning of a maritime domain awareness training school that was equipped by the United States Navy.
The school was commissioned on Thursday, March 14 alongside the opening ceremony of the multinational maritime exercise, Obangame Express 2019

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Military

America’s Escalating Air War in Somalia: How Did We Get There?
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff

Where is the United States at war? It’s a hard question to answer. Inevitably though, at least in the last four years, this sentence has changed little: American troops are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. But with a steady stream of airstrikes, militant deaths, alleged civilian casualties and two American troops killed in Eastern Africa since 2017, another country has since crept onto the list: Somalia.

On Sunday, my colleagues Eric Schmitt and Charlie Savage published a story about the escalating war there against the Al Qaeda-affiliated group Shabab, and how the number of American airstrikes in the country have steadily increased under the Trump administration. In 2018 alone, there were 47 strikes that killed 326 people. And 2019 is already on pace to exceed last year’s tallies.

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Military

Kenyans Rank First Among African Immigrants Serving in the US Military

Kenyan immigrants have been ranked first among African immigrants in the United States who are currently serving in the US military.

Latest data from the US Census Bureau shows that 0.4 percent of Kenyans in the US are serving in the army.

Ghanaians in the US come second with 0.3 percent serving in the armed forces.

The data shows that 0.1 percent of Nigerians and South Africans in America serve in the military.

While immigrants with Green Cards are eligible for recruitment to the US military, they cannot be assigned roles that need special security clearance.

These duties include intelligence, nuclear power as well as special operations.

More than 24,000 immigrants, including non-citizens and naturalized citizens, were serving on active duty in the US military in 2012, a report by the Department of Defense showed.

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