49 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 58 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 6/12/12

Pentagon's Last Frontier: Battle-Hardened Troops Headed To Africa

By       (Page 1 of 4 pages)   3 comments
Message Rick Rozoff

Pentagon's Last Frontier: Battle-Hardened Troops Headed To Africa
Rick Rozoff

After the U.S. begins to wind down more than ten consecutive years of combat, mainly counterinsurgency, operations in what has variously been labeled the Broader, Greater and New Middle East, war-tested troops are being prepared for redeployment to Africa and Latin (largely South) America.*

 

Last September President Barack Obama hailed the five million U.S. soldiers that have served in the so-called global war on terror, what he called the 9/11 generation, in the preceding decade.

 

American commanders issue regular statements that war-time experience in Afghanistan and Iraq has trained the armed forces for new operations in other parts of the world: Africa, Latin America, those parts of the Middle East so far not undermined and attacked, the Balkans-Black Sea-Caucasus arc and the Asia-Pacific region.

 

On June 8 the Gannett newspaper chain's Army Times cited the commander of U.S. Army Africa, Major General David Hogg, disclosing that a brigade-size force of U.S. troops - 3,000 "and likely more" - will begin regular deployments to the African continent beginning next year.

 

As a component of U.S. Army Africa's "regionally aligned force concept," the American military personnel will concentrate on training the armed forces of U.S. Africa Command's new military allies - which have grown to include all 54 African nations except for Eritrea, Sudan and Zimbabwe after the overthrow of the governments of Ivory Coast and Libya last year - and, in Pentagonese, to advise, assist, partner, enable and mentor in counterinsurgency campaigns like those currently underway in Mali, Somalia and Central Africa.

 

As Africa is (along with South America) alone in not yet being the site of extensive and sustained U.S. military deployments, according to Hogg "As far as our mission goes, it's uncharted territory"; in the words of Army Times, Africa is "the Army's last frontier."

 

The latter source stated the initial 3,000-troop-plus initiative is "a pilot program that assigns brigades on a rotational basis to regions around the globe."

 

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) is a unified combatant command whose respective components are U.S. Army Africa (based in Vicenza, Italy), U.S. Naval Forces Africa (Naples, Italy), U.S. Air Forces Africa (Ramstein Air Base, Germany), U.S. Marine Corps Forces Africa and U.S. Special Operations Command Africa (the last two at the Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, Germany where AFRICOM headquarters is located). 

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

News 2   Interesting 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Rick Rozoff Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Rick Rozoff has been involved in anti-war and anti-interventionist work in various capacities for forty years. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. Is the manager of the Stop NATO international email list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato/
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Template: NATO Consolidates Grip On Former Yugoslavia

Pentagon Preparing for War with the 'Enemy': Russia

Pentagon's Christmas Present: Largest Military Budget Since World War II

Pentagon And NATO Apply Afghanistan-Pakistan War Model To Africa

21st Century Strategy: Militarized Europe, Globalized NATO

As Obama Talks Of Arms Control, Russians View U.S. As Global Aggressor

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend