Nearly 30 military officers from African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troop contributing countries met in Nairobi, Kenya, for a staff officers course administered by the U.S. State Department’s Africa Contingency Operations and Training Assistance (ACOTA) program.
At the beginning of February, the officers representing the defense forces of Kenya, Burundi and Uganda began the five-week course as part of their training to serve at the AMISOM Force Headquarters or on the command level staff for any of the six AMISOM sectors in Somalia.
“(The course) is giving these soldiers the basic skills they need to conduct military operations in Somalia,” said Jon Dahms, U. S. Africa Command deputy chief for Public Affairs and course mentor. “Preparing these officers for success in this operation helps AMISOM with progress toward defeating Al-Shabaab and making Somalia a unified, (peaceful and stable) country again, so I think we’re laying the groundwork here for that success.”
Now in March, students have graduated with the skills to lead their troops and advise commanders toward strengthening multinational peacekeeping operations, neutralizing threats like Al-Shabaab and forming an overall more stable East African Region.
“When they do deploy to Somalia, they can just transition right into the force headquarters and not miss a beat,” said U.S. Army Capt. Erik Buendia, 403rd Civil Affairs Battalion and course mentor. “(This course) is a more efficient and proficient way of getting everyone on the same page.”
The course, led by instructors and mentors from ACOTA, AFRICOM and Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, separated students into their six main directorates necessary for successful military operations: logistics and personnel, intelligence, public information, civil affairs, military operations, and command leadership.
Even though the course consisted of only 25 training days, it covered 30 different topics, requiring the utmost focus and discipline from students, instructors and mentors.
“We really tried to build a positive working environment,” Buenida said. “Allowing them enough time to rehearse, brief and ask questions.”